MobileCrunch |  |
- Nokia N9: The Most Amazing Phone You’ll Never Buy
- DreamIt-Backed CloudMine Lets App Developers Bypass The Backend Pain, Focus On Their Product
- Once Magazine Brings Compelling Photojournalism To Your iPad
- (Fly or Die) iPhone 4S
- Discover The World Around You With New Mobile App Roamz
- RIM, Get Ready To Pay Up For That Massive Outage
- The iPhone 4S Is Siriously Smarter
- The Galaxy Nexus Pops Up In Verizon’s Device Management System
- monolith: iPhone 4 Case + Pocket Projector +Battery Rolled Into One
- Some Retailers Say iPhone 4 Cases Will Fit The 4S, Others Don’t
- App Trailers Gives You Gift Cards For Watching App Videos
- ChatON, Samsung’s Version Of iMessage, Arrives In Android Market
- Amazon Lists All Its Verizon Phones For One Penny With A New Contract
| Nokia N9: The Most Amazing Phone You’ll Never Buy Posted: 15 Oct 2011 04:02 AM PDT  Nokia was nice enough to loan me a Nokia N9, its first and almost certainly last MeeGo-powered smartphone, after I not-so-subtly pointed out that I’d love to give the thing a solid whirl. After having played with it for a day now, I’ll tell you why I think it’s a phenomenal smartphone that rivals the best of ‘em, and why you would probably be better off not buying one anyway. I’ll start off by explaining that I’m not qualified to be a professional smartphone reviewer, whatsoever. We have our former CrunchGear and MobileCrunch slaves for that type of stuff. That said, I’ve used a bunch of smartphones over the years, of all shapes and sizes, and I know damn well what I want. If you’re looking for one of those thorough hands-on reviews or a list of specs, please look elsewhere. Okay? Okay. TL;DR: The Nokia N9′s hardware, operating system and pre-installed applications are almost all exceptionally good, and a tight integration between them makes for a top notch user experience. Unfortunately, the price is far too steep, and there just aren’t enough apps on the marketplace. Full review: The Nokia N9 is easily one of the most pleasant, fast and thoughtfully designed phones I’ve ever used. And I’ve used plenty of iPhones and Android phones to date to know what I’m talking about. There’s a lot of things to like about the N9: the quality and responsiveness of the touch screen, the nifty ‘swiping’ features, the general look and feel of the (unibody) hardware, the navigation and ‘Drive’ applications, the curved glass, the camera quality, the way notifications work, the incoming updates river view, the lack of buttons, built-in NFC capabilities, and so on. A really, really solid job, Nokia. It has its quirks too, like any device I daresay, and a surprisingly crappy preloaded Webkit browser (no tabs, no favorites, no ‘read it later’, and odd rendering at times). You also can’t personalize the background (save for the lock screen) or add effects to it – something I’ve grown surprisingly fond of with Android phones. iPhone users will miss their folders. So why would I – and probably you – never buy it? Two main reasons. First, the phone is too expensive. The N9 costs 480 euros (roughly $650) for the 16 GB version, and 560 euros (~$755) for the 64 GB version, before taxes or subsidies. I understand the reasoning. It’s a high-end phone, and Nokia wants its price to match the way it feels about the device. And if it weren’t ~2 years late to the market, it’d be an acceptable price, too. Unfortunately, we now live in a world where you can pick up a decent iPhone or Android handset for roughly the same price or cheaper, so the N9 simply can’t compete on price. The second reason is less objective and more obvious: the staggering lack of apps in the marketplace (called Nokia Store these days). It’s not disastrous; the phone comes preloaded with apps like Maps, Drive, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds (lite), AccuWeather, YouTube etc. and you can easily install apps like Foursquare and some nice games from the store, free of charge. But that’s pretty much it, and it’s a problem. I know I can pick up any Android phone or iPhone, install the Yammer app and collaborate with my fellow TechCrunch staffers instantly (okay, when the app does what it’s supposed to, which isn’t always the case). I can install Amazon’s Kindle app and start reading my most recently downloaded ebook on the page I was when I last signed off. I can install the NYT and WSJ apps to keep on top of world news, and download Pulse to read the feeds I’ve subscribed to. I can install Shazam and identify and buy tunes wherever I am. I can download Viber and call and text my friends for free. On the Nokia N9, none of that is possible. The company representative I talked to yesterday says it will get better, and developers just need to become more aware of cross-platform application framework Qt and how they can port existing apps so they run on MeeGo. Perhaps, but that will take time, and as I said before, Nokia is already late to this game. It’s a sad, strange paradox: the phone is so beautiful and works so smoothly that I’m actually having a hard time putting the N9 down, but I can honestly say that I would never recommend anyone to go out and purchase it in a world so chock-full of better choices, especially at that price. Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Nokia is the owner of Symbian operation system and partially owns MeeGo operating system.
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| DreamIt-Backed CloudMine Lets App Developers Bypass The Backend Pain, Focus On Their Product Posted: 15 Oct 2011 12:13 AM PDT  I think it’s a fair assumption to say that, for app developers, the enjoyable part of their job is building the actual app, not finding the right web services and hosting provider, setting up databases, and slogging through configuration. I could be wrong to presume this to be true, but CloudMine, a Philadelphia-based startup launching in open beta today is willing to bet that most developers might agree with me. So, CloudMine has developed a service that will allow developers to reduce the pain by providing a set of RESTful APIs that allow them to quickly create back-end solutions for their apps. Specifically, the startup is offering schema-free data structure storage, user account creation and management, and server-side business logic for computations that are too complex or data-intensive to run on a mobile device. CloudMine is currently part of the current batch of fledgling startups in DreamIt Ventures' Philadelphia-based accelerator program, which has invested $20K of seed funding in CloudMine’s backend solution. The service has been in closed beta for several months, where its testers have reported that CloudMine has cut the time it takes for developers to configure backend solutions in half. Developers can use the service’s REST-based API directly or download its SDKs for the platform of their choice to give app creators the chance to increase their value proposition by focusing on the product (and getting it in front of users) and not worrying about tinkering with servers, web apps, or scaling. I like that the PaaS service is offering a “B2D” (business-to-developer) solution that enables developers to move their focus away from infrastructure to product testing and iterating. It’s also pretty cool that developers can sign up for free and immediately get an API key for their first app — and quickly generating keys for other apps with one click once they’re ready to do so. As to who is behind the startup: CloudMine was co-founded by Ilya Braude (formerly of Eastern Research acquired by Sycamore Networks and Drakontas), Marc Weil (who has previously worked at Apple and Oracle), and Brendan McCorkle (also the co-founder of Textaurant. For more, check out CloudMine at home here.
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| Once Magazine Brings Compelling Photojournalism To Your iPad Posted: 14 Oct 2011 05:19 PM PDT  Do you remember when photojournalism and photographic stories used to be a more central part of the news reading experience? Granted, those were the days when print publishing reigned supreme and photo-centric news magazines represented some of the highest circulation periodicals in American publishing. There’s no better example of this than Life Magazine, which sold 13.5 million copies per week at its peak. Yet, Life slowly sputtered out of existence over the years (finally closing the doors of its print operations in 2007 after a number of re-starts), and just as digital technology has forced publishers and media organizations to alter their approach to the distribution and monetization of their content, photojournalism, too, seems in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Photography and photo-sharing have exploded in popularity thanks to the cameras on our smartphones and the countless photo apps and tools that make storing, displaying, and sharing our photos a breeze. While online photo albums and slideshows have become ubiquitous, quality photojournalism and photo stories that actually present a narrative (and even share news) just haven’t made the jump. Once Magazine, a startup that officially launched its first issue on the App Store in August, is looking to breathe new life into photojournalism by offering a series of curated photo stories uniquely edited and designed specifically for the iPad. Working with professional photographers and writers to create complete stories that aren’t just aggregated clumps of photos from the Web (no slideshows here), Once wants to reach all those people that love photographic stories, whether they consider themselves professionals or casual Instagram users. It’s Life Magazine for the tablet age. (For sake of full disclosure, I should say that I have known the founders and editors at Once for several years, and consider them close friends. While I have no personal financial stake in the magazine, I do admit a bias insofar as I hope they achieve fame and glory. Though, admittedly, this can be said for all the startups I cover.) While print publishing and photojournalism may be going the way of the dinosaur, every day, people upload millions of images to their Facebook and Flickr galleries, Path and Instagram, and the growing demand for engaging and sharable photographic content presented in a non-snooze-worthy narrative is still alive and kicking. (Just ask Tracks.) Yet, as iPad owners currently resort to viewing photo galleries and stories in Safari and photographers remain fixed to print publications where photo budgets are drying up at light speed, Once is hoping to take advantage of the new availability of sales data and the shifting consumption habits of readers on the Web to offer a new solution. In an industry where contributors struggle to make money from their digital content, and publications likewise fight tooth-and-nail to monetize, Once is hoping to offer a compensation (and revenue) model that can address both of these pain points. For starters, the magazine initially launched for free on the App Store, but today the team has released its new paid version, which means that its issues are now available both as in-app purchases or via a discounted monthly subscription. (The cost of which is $2.99 per issue or $1.99 per month with recurring billing, respectively.) To entice photographers, Once will be splitting all revenue from App Store sales right down the middle (after Apple takes its 30 percent cut, of course). As it stands now, the magazine is advertising free, but moving forward, Once will slowly incorporate ads and will also look to begin selling physical prints of popular photos through the App Store. Although Once has only been live for just over a month, the startup’s unique model has already added Dave Eggers (the award-winning author, co-writer of the screenplay for Where the Wild Things Are, and founder of McSweeney’s and 826 Valencia) as well as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet to its advisory board. What’s more, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers like Craig Walker, who will be featured in later issues, continue to line up to participate in the Once experiment. The reason for this seems largely due to the fact that the magazine has been designed specifically for the iPad. From the beginning, that’s been the focus — unlike the trajectory of the majority of publications, which start with a print product and then grumpily port their offline content to digital media and app stores. The hope is that starting from scratch will allow Once to bypass the baggage inherent in legacy print models and give them a leg up on the competition. As to the content of the magazine, generally speaking, each issue of Once will include three feature stories, each of which will be introduced by a multiple-page-long essay. Each feature will include an average of 20 to 25 photographs, which are complemented by captions, audio clips, and interactive graphics. Thanks to the high resolution of the iPad 2′s display (1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch, for those keeping track) the experience of flipping through these photo-essays on the iPad is more enjoyable than reading a magazine in print. The interface is intuitive, easy-to-use, and provides just enough supplemental bells and whistles without distracting from the star of the show: The mind-blowing photos. Of course, the one problem with being an iPad-focused magazine is that Once doesn’t have the benefit of drawing from a ready-made readership. While the team doesn’t have to worry about the costs (and overhead) traditionally associated with print publishing, user acquisition will no doubt be the startup’s biggest hurdle going forward. To combat this, friend and Once Founder Jackson Solway tells me that the team is considering various ways to partner with existing publications, potentially offering teaser versions of their stories to high-traffic websites in exchange for prominent links back to the Once app. What’s more, with Apple prominently featuring Newsstand on all iOS 5-enabled devices, this will likely become a terrific source of downloads and eyeballs not only for Once, but for all publishers. As Mark Edmiston, CEO of Nomad Editions, (which has a similar sharing model to Once, albeit with smaller rev-sharing percentages for contributors), recently told Johnny Biggs, publications that have previously found their app-only titles lost among the barrage of lifestyle apps and passed over by readers, Newsstand allows them to place their content front and center, which he believes will be a boon for publishers going forward. As the Once team is composed of those who’ve previously worked at Wired, Getty Images, McSweeney’s, and Mother Jones, there’s plenty of publishing experience to go around, but with a 50:50 rev-sharing model, and prices set at levels that won’t scare away potential readers, the startup is going to have to sell a lot of issues to stay afloat. To aid in the quest for profitability, the team raised a small seed round back in March and is currently actively pursuing a larger second round of financing. With a beautifully designed app that features some amazing photography from notable photojournalists, the Once experiment is already off to a good start, but the big question is: Can the startup’s rev-share model prove to be more lucrative for photographers and editors than current industry practices — are they tapping into the future of photojournalism? Or is this just another false start? Weigh in and let us know what you think. And check out Once in the App Store here.
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| Posted: 14 Oct 2011 03:29 PM PDT  Erick and John take the iPhone 4S and its built in voice activated personal digital assistant Siri, for a spin in this episode of Fly or Die. Right off the bat Erick says he is impressed with reception he receives when using the iPhone 4S and points out how the iPhone 4S streamlines notifications from various sites (Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram) by having them scroll in one fluid stream. Erick also demonstrates how Twitter is integrated into the phone (with sound effects) before having Siri set up a meeting for him and Biggs. Erick comes away impressed with Siri while John is somewhat less excited, saying the service is “almost a gimmick in one way, but it is also actually fairly useful.” So where will Erick and John ultimately come down on the iPhone 4S? Make sure to watch the video to find out. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
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| Discover The World Around You With New Mobile App Roamz Posted: 14 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT  Just in time to be one of the first app installs on my freshly arrived iPhone 4S, there comes a new location-based mobile app called Roamz (iTunes link), which will have its official debut on Monday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. As hinted at by the name, the app wants to help you discover the world around you as you “roam” around town. To do so, Roamz digs into social signals from services like Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Instagram in order to find out what people in your area are buzzing about right now. It then presents those results to you in a stream which you can filter by interest. After installing the app, you can optionally choose to connect Roamz Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, so it can provide better, more personalized recommendations. It looks at your own social signals, like your check-ins, your friends’ check-ins, and your shared likes and interests, including those you indicate within the app itself using the included thumbs up and thumbs down buttons provided on the listings. Then, on the main screen, there is a series of toggles that let you filter what sort of information you’ll see, broken down into “interests” like Shopping, Events & Entertainment, Restaurants, Children, Pets and much more. By switching these toggles off or on, you can better filter the results of the activity trending near your location. The result, ideally, is that you don’t have to be constantly checking your social networks to find out what’s going on, what’s popular or where your friends are checking into right now. ”There’s so much social data being shared,” explains Roamz CEO and Founder Jonathan Barouch, “but if you’re not following the right people at the right time, you may be missing out.” Barouch admits that the venue categorization is not complete for all areas yet – only major metro regions. That’s why, for example, the results for somewhere like San Francisco or New York appear to be much better filtered than those I’m seeing for my own city (sunny Tampa, Florida). For smaller areas like this, only about 50% of the venues have been categorized. But, like they say, you’ve got to launch sometime. In the future, Roamz plans to deliver its recommendations through iOS5′s new push notifications and may even integrate with Siri (e.g. “Siri, does Roamz recommend any museums around here?”) Further down the road, brands may be able to tap into these push notifications to send out highly personalized messages to users, which I like to imagine would go something like this: “Welcome back to Starbucks, Sarah. Enjoy this coupon for $0.25 off that latte you’re about to order.” But then again, maybe I’ve just been hanging out with Siri too much today. Still, serendipitous discovery of the world around you? That’s the app I was waiting for. Roamz is in the very early stages of development, so it can’t fully deliver on that promise just yet. But it’s certainly one to watch. Australian-based Roamz raised $3.5 million in Series A financing in January 2010 from media company Salmat. Barouch himself was previously the founder of Fastflowers.com.au, one of Australia’s largest floral chains. Roamz is a location-based application that helps you find out what is happening at places around you. With so much noise on the social web Roamz guides you to the serendipitous moments that the locals find out about. Roamz pulls in social data from multiple sources to give users a unique view of social activity occurring at places nearby. Roamz has developed machine learning techniques so that the more you use Roamz the smarter it gets and the more relevant...
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| RIM, Get Ready To Pay Up For That Massive Outage Posted: 14 Oct 2011 01:49 PM PDT  Now that RIM’s global network is out of the woods, carriers are having to deal with the public relations nightmare that the outage has caused. Given the sheer number of vocal BlackBerry users gumming up Twitter with calls for compensation, we (and all of their customers) are left wondering how RIM is going to handle this. Today’s is a drastically different picture than the one RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie painted in a recent conference call. When asked if RIM would be compensating their carrier partners for the trouble, Balsillie said that it was the last thing anyone was thinking about. According to him, he was heartened to see how carriers the world over offered their support in RIM’s time of crisis. “This has not been about pointing fingers,” said Balsillie. “This has been about serving customers.” While true, this strikes me as a bit of a lame excuse. Of course these carriers were supportive — they wanted the network up and running as soon as possible, so that their users (and their wallets) wouldn’t jump ship. For customers, the carriers are the most visible target for service issues, whether the problem was theirs or not. Now, that service has been restored, we’re starting to see how these carriers are making it up to their customers. All of the South African providers, for example, are either issuing service credits or offering free calls and messages to their customers. Etisalat, a carrier out of the UAE, will be offering BlackBerry users three days of free usage. Apparently, carriers in Spain like Telefonica are legally bound to pay their customers for every 24 hours that service was affected. It won’t result in a huge win for individual customers — they’re expected to pick up a few extra Euro each — but Telefonica will certainly be feeling the pinch. It’s not entirely clear to what extent (if at all) RIM will be covering these compensatory costs, but you’d better believe carriers will try and foist the bill onto the folks in Waterloo. Analyst Gus Papageorgiou of Scotia Capital puts RIM’s potential payout at over $100 million. What’s still up in the air is if RIM will be directly compensating their customers, as opposed to covering the costs incurred by carriers doing it. The issue was brought up more than a few times during yesterday’s conference all, and all the pair of co-CEOs could say is that it’s a “priority.” Even if they don’t reach out their customers, RIM could face legal pressure from irate customers. RIM’s been on the receiving end of class action lawsuits before, and they could face a doozy of one if enough users band together. Whether or not it sticks is another thing entirely. It’s looking at this point like there’s no way RIM is going to get out this mess without opening up the corporate wallet. Unfortunately, it’s the exact last thing RIM needs right now. The company is in dire straits as is, and while it’s unlikely compensatory costs will send them into ruin, it certainly makes RIM’s future look even bleaker.
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| The iPhone 4S Is Siriously Smarter Posted: 14 Oct 2011 10:57 AM PDT  Editor's note: The following guest post was written byMrinal Desai, an early employee of LinkedIn who is also co-founder of CrossLoop and addappt. You can follow him on Twitter. Like many, I am absolutely amazed by Siri, the talking assistant on the iPhone 4S. It was the one thing that really stood out for me during the launch event when Scott Forstall introduced it ten days ago. And now we finally get to play with it. After an Apple product launch, my usual evening at home is telling (umm .. selling) my wife the new features and how I need to have it. It’s a path of persuasion of how the product is not a want. Those "needs" now have been met by the prior generations of the iPhone, both generations of iPad, Apple TV, MacBook, MacBook Pro and a home surrounded by wireless bits on an Apple router. But when I went home that night, it was all about Siri—”the other person” in my life. I never uttered a word about the specs of the dual core A5 processor or how it has 7x better graphics or even the HSPA+ download speeds—she does not care. An average person, unlike many of us, couldn't care less for what is under the hood, couldn't care less whether the product is open or closed, couldn't care less about Flash, HTML5 or native apps. I found myself listing all the scenarios of how productive I was going to be, how finally something that can actually be used was here. It would be the perfect companion to get all my to-dos done! Reminders are a common work flow issue for me and I always add them to my calendar. Setting up meetings—we do that all the time. Rerouting as we drive—very frequent. Often working in the 'Indian Stretchable Time' zone, I find myself sending texts to people that I am running late. There is an entire industry of virtual assistants out there because we want to focus on important things, not busy things. I can imagine a few more Siri applications in the future that I know I would love to have:
Asking questions is an inherent quest to learn, to search. Add context and meaning and suddenly we go far beyond keywords. One of the continuous things Google works on is figuring out context. When you search with keyword “apple”, did you mean to look for the fruit or the company? Apple just changed the rules of the game—again. It made the phone smarter, not just do more. Finally and very importantly, user acquisition. Being in a noisy world and a salesman within, one thing that I obsess about a lot is user acquisition. I am a hungry student of product design elements that inherently attract new users. I am hungry to learn why people buy what they buy; why do they use what they use. How did they discover what they use? So rewind back a little. I remember when I got my first iPhone (3GS). I was so giddy with excitement with my new toy that I couldn't stop telling everyone I knew about it. Not only that, I did demos too. I convinced as many as I could to let go of their Blackberrys (I switched from one) and move on. The closer was always apps. My favorite one was Ocarina. I would blow through the microphone exhibiting my hidden musical skills (or lack thereof). The smoothly rotating globe with music being played all around the world never ceased to draw the “wows” and the “oohs”—and I assure you that they were not about how well I played the Ocarina. It was the single largest and most well lubricated organic word-of-mouth machine I had ever seen. It was a lot like the advertising we all do when we carry out shopping bags with a 'Macy's' logo on it or akin to wearing a Gap hoodie or when we wear a Barcelona team shirt. We pride ourselves in the product we associate with and we are more than comfortable paying (big dollars when it comes to European football with jerseys at $70-$80 a pop) to advertise them. Its an emotion so strong that it soon becomes an integral part of our identity that we wish to share.
Deep within, I am fearfully hopeful that juuuuust maybe, Siri will be able be to recognize my first name—something that most people send through a paper shredder. And yes, if you forget your anniversary in the future and have a 4S, blame it on Siri. I know I would have loved to have it on my last anniversary. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
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| The Galaxy Nexus Pops Up In Verizon’s Device Management System Posted: 14 Oct 2011 10:19 AM PDT  If legit, a freshly leaked document from the Verizon Device Management System confirms earlier rumors that the next official Google phone will indeed be called the Galaxy Nexus. An Ice Cream Sandwich announcement is already slated for October 19, where Samsung and Google are expected to announce the next Nexus. Originally spotted by Droid-Life, the leaked document shows that the Galaxy Nexus will run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but it looks as though the new handset won’t be a global phone. An earlier specs leak describes a huge 4.65-inch display, a 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, an NFC chip, and of course, Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Based on Verizon’s usual pricing scheme, we can probably expect this LTE device to go for around $299 on-contract. But we won’t know anything for sure until we get official word. Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps and YouTube. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing them with a rich source of information....
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| monolith: iPhone 4 Case + Pocket Projector +Battery Rolled Into One Posted: 14 Oct 2011 08:20 AM PDT  A Japanese accessory maker called Century started selling the “monolith” [JP] today, a case for the iPhone 4, a 1,900mAh battery, and a mini projector rolled into one (it’s still unclear if the device works with the iPhone 4S as well). The monolith is sized at 63.5×126.6×22mm and weighs 97g. Century says that users can expect images sized at up to 60cm (in 16:9 format), in 640×360 resolution, with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and with 12 lumens brightness. According to the company, the battery provides enough juice for 3 hours of projector usage and takes about 4 hours to fully charge. Without the projector, the in-case battery can add 50% to the life of the iPhone battery. The monolith is available in black and white (price in Japan: US$260).
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| Some Retailers Say iPhone 4 Cases Will Fit The 4S, Others Don’t Posted: 14 Oct 2011 08:17 AM PDT  Well, this is a bit curious. We’re all well aware that a phone such as the iPhone 4S requires a case. It’s just too damn precious and costs way too much to go unprotected, but the best cases are often expensive. That said, I’m sure many iPhone 4 owners were hoping to keep their old case when upgrading to the iPhone 4S, but if OtterBox is your go-to case brand, think again. OtterBox iPhone 4 cases won’t protect the iPhone 4S, with the exception of the Reflex Series. But the iPhone 4S cases from OtterBox will protect the iPhone 4. According to Brighthand, there are tiny differences in the design of the 4 and 4S, including a slightly different placement of the volume buttons. Apparently OtterBox’s tight-fitting cases won’t translate over to the iPhone 4S, though some other case retailers like CaseMate don’t seem to be having the same issue. What’s odd is that Apple has said repeatedly that they left the iPhone’s design alone, and merely upgraded the innards in the 4S. According to the iPhone 4S press release, “iPhone 4S has the same beautifully thin glass and stainless steel design that millions of customers around the world love,” referring to the iPhone 4. Still, Hard Candy Cases seems to be selling different cases for the iPhone 4 and the 4S like OtterBox, suggesting that it’s really a retailer decision. Here’s what an OtterBox spokesperson had to say:
Well, there you have it OtterBox fans. Unless you are using the Reflex Series cases, you’ll need to upgrade.
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| App Trailers Gives You Gift Cards For Watching App Videos Posted: 14 Oct 2011 07:29 AM PDT  Mobile advertising startup AppRedeem has just launched App Trailers, a new product that rewards you for viewing videos about mobile apps. The service, available here from the iTunes App Store, doesn’t use the same model as typical incentivized install programs do today. Instead, users are given points for watching a trailer, then are provided with the option to download the app at the end of the video. Only if a users taps “yes” is the advertiser charged. Says AppReedem, these types of installs will be more valuable to the advertiser because the user is indicating that they actually want to install and try that app. Users get the same number of points whether or not they choose to installs, so they’re really only downloading apps they’re interested in – there’s no bonus for tapping “yes.” Each video listed in the app is worth 10 points, but users can get 25 points for registering their email or inviting friends to try the service. Rewards include a $1 Amazon gift card (100 points), a $5 REI gift card (500 points), $10 gift cards from Crate&Barrel, Fandango or Macy’s (1,000 points) and $25 gift cards from Nike, Nordstrom or Pottery Barn (2,500 points). Given how long it would take you to accumulate enough points to earn the top-level rewards, it’s clear this app is best suited to those who have a lot of free time on your hands. (Perhaps those without an Angry Bird addiction?) That said, App Trailers is certainly a unique take on driving app installs in an increasingly overcrowded app marketplace. And who know? You might even discover a new app to try when the service ramps up a bit. Currently, there are videos for a number of popular apps, including Priceline, Groupon, LivingSocial, SkyGrid, PingMe, Blendr and others. The only problem? Apparently you don’t get any points for having all those apps already installed on your phone. Bummer. You can try App Trailers for yourself from here. AppReedem raised $700,000 from SV Angel and Blue Run Ventures in June. It also has an AppReedem-branded app on Android here. AppRedeem is an early-stage, high-growth promotion and advertising platform that drives mobile application engagement. World-class firms – Gilt Groupe, Groupon, and others – use AppRedeem today to fuel their mobile growth.
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| ChatON, Samsung’s Version Of iMessage, Arrives In Android Market Posted: 14 Oct 2011 06:26 AM PDT  Samsung’s cross-platform messaging application called ChatON has arrived in the Google Android Market this morning. The service, announced in August, is similar to RIM's BlackBerry BBM or Apple’s iMessage in that it allows for an alternative to SMS or MMS messaging. At present, ChatON supports Android, bada and Samsung feature phones, but the company promises support for iOS and BlackBerry soon. In addition to mobile chat, ChatON plans to offer a Web-based client that will allow users to chat from their PCs, too. Users can have private 1-to 1-conversations, participate in group chats and share media, like photos, videos, voice messages and contacts. On Samsung’s feature phones, the service allows for text, images, calendar appointment and contact sharing. On smartphones, users will have a few extra options, such as the ability to comment on each other's profiles, send multimedia messages that combine text and audio, and view their own "Interaction Rank," which displays how active they are on the ChatOn network. The Android Market description also adds something about sending “animation” messages, which are created by drawing. The Android version is available here in the Android Market. It works on Android 2.2 and 2.3. The Samsung (bada, feature phone) version is available in the Samsung App Store. (Note that this is not available in all markets). Hat tip: Samsung Hub
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| Amazon Lists All Its Verizon Phones For One Penny With A New Contract Posted: 14 Oct 2011 05:56 AM PDT  If you’re a non-Verizon customer who’s been considering hopping on the big red network, now is most definitely the time. A deal at Amazon could score you a $300 phone for just a penny. In fact, Amazon Wireless is selling all its Verizon devices (which unfortunately excludes the new iPhone 4S) for just a penny if you’re a new customer signing a contract. That also includes free 2-day shipping. The deal doesn’t extend to tablets, but there’s still a good 30 phones to choose from, ranging from the super powerful $300 Droid Bionic to a variety of feature phones. The beastlier of the phones include the HTC Droid Incredible 2, the HTC ThunderBolt, the Samsung Droid Charge, and the Motorola Droid 3. If the Penny-Pincher Sale sounds like the deal for you, head on over to Amazon Wireless and start shopping. The sale is only running through October 17. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is a leading global Internet company and one of the most trafficked Internet retail destinations worldwide. Amazon is one of the first companies to sell products deep into the long tail by housing them all in numerous warehouses and distributing products from many partner companies. Amazon directly sells, or acts as a platform for the sale of a broad range of products. These include books, music, videos, consumer electronics, clothing and household products. The majority of Amazon's...
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