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- Vodafone UK Announces iPhone Launch Date
Do you remember the notion we used to have that multiple carriers selling the iPhone in the same territory seemed like a golden ticket to more options, lower prices and altogether more competitive deals for customers?
Well, forget it. Ain’t gonna happen. Not if the UK’s mobile market is anything to go by.
Vodafone UK has today announced the launch date of the iPhone on their network (it’s January 14, by the way) but once you’ve picked your way through their online pricing minefield, it’s hardly anything to write home about.
According to the Financial Times, Guy Laurence of Vodafone UK said the carrier has been busy preparing their network for the iPhone for the last twelve months;
We started preparing our network over a year ago so that iPhone customers will really feel the advantage of being with Vodafone. We will offer an outstanding iPhone experience wherever our customers live, work and travel, delivering speed and reliability – something our customers have told us they really value.
Yeah. We also value more competitive deals, Mr Laurence.
I did a very brief comparison of the three cheapest contract deals (not pay-as-you-go) offered by the three biggest operators in the UK: O2, Orange and Vodafone. Here’s what I found.
The cheapest contracts are all pretty lengthy –two years, in fact. That doesn’t sound unusual for those of you in America, I know, but here in the UK mobile contracts are often no longer than twelve months. Being locked-in for two long years is a ponderous proposition for many Brits who might be graduating (tentatively) to the exciting world of modern smartphones from their old Nokia 3310’s!
In addition, none of the carriers offers a competitive price for the latest model, the iPhone 3GS. The most affordable iPhones happen to be the elderly 2008 model. The stingy 8 gigabyte 2008 model, at that. So if you opt for a two year contract you’re getting a model that, in about six months (barely one quarter into the lifetime of your new contract) is going to be two models behind the latest and greatest from Apple. I’m just sayin’, is all.
Here’s how it breaks down, assuming the recession has hit you as hard as it hit everyone else and you’re looking to buy the most affordable iPhone package with one of the major UK network operators;
O2
For £34.26 ($55.22) a month you’ll get 600 free minutes of talk time and 500 free text messages. Data is unlimited. Assuming you never use more than the free talktime/SMS, this will cost you £822 ($1,324) over the course of the contract.Orange
£29.36 ($47.32) each and every month gets you a measly 150 minutes of talktime and 250 text messages. The lifetime cost – £704.64, or 1,131.37 of your shiny American dollars.Vodafone
For a few pennies more than O2, you can get last year’s low-end iPhone for £35 ($56.20) each month. For your money you’ll get 600 free minutes and unlimited text messages. The lifetime cost – £840, or $1,348.70.Please don’t forget – and I can’t stress this enough – this is an unusually-long contract for the UK, and yet it’s last year’s phone. Add to that the fact that, of course, no one ever stays within the allotted talktime and SMS quotas – everyone has a bill that costs the monthly fee plus additional talk time and messages. Frankly, it all adds up to quite an expensive deal, given the age and limited storage capacity of the model on offer.
I should add, too, that “unlimited” doesn’t actually mean “unlimited”. It means you’re allowed to consume as much data as the network provider deems “appropriate” for normal use. This tends to hover between 500 MB and 1 GB per month, which isn’t too bad unless you use your phone for watching YouTube videos eight hours a day. (Still, I take offense at the way network operators so casually use the word “unlimited” when it means nothing of the sort.) The trouble is that, if our providers start behaving like AT&T, their idea of “acceptable data usage” is going to change, and not in our favor.
The 3GS, on the other hand, is astonishingly more expensive than the 3G with little appreciable difference between the providers in terms of handset costs and tariffs. I wonder if this is because of the already-steep up-front costs they’ve shouldered in order to offer Apple’s handsets in the first place. If that’s the case, perhaps I should be more disappointed in with Apple’s aggressive pricing policies that those of my nationwide cellular network operators. In any case, at this point in time, I see no compelling reason to move away from O2 at the end of my current contract.
Was I expecting too much in terms of competitive pricing? Are these prices fair, given the investments which must be made by operators to offer the iPhone ‘experience’? Or is this a shining example of unfettered network operator greed? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Переслать - How-To: Droid Syncing on the Mac
Maybe it’s because you’ve been watching too many of these ads , but for whatever reason, the iPhone isn’t for you. You opted for an Android-based phone instead. It may blend, but will it sync with your Mac? Read on.
There are comprehensive third party desktop syncing programs available such as Missing Sync, but realize that with a “Google-based” phone, over-the-air syncing is automatic and built in. When you purchase your Android-based phone, you’ll link it with your Google account (a free Google account is required to use the phone’s over-the-air syncing). Your phone will generally auto-sync with your Google account allowing you to possibly ditch your MobileMe subscription. The task then is to get your Mac to sync with the Google account.
1) Foreplay
While using a Droid isn’t as easy as using an iPhone, it’s not that much harder. Here’s a tip, do NOT allow your mobile phone company to import your contacts from your old phone. This has caused problems with synchronization for some. It’s best to start with a clean list of contacts in your Google account. If you haven’t synced your previous phone with your Mac, go ahead and do it before switching phones. If you can’t, you might consider typing the phone numbers into your Mac Address Book beforehand.
2) Safe Syncing
Syncing is only one step above the SCSI voodoo of previous generations. It’s always best to start with a core data set and push it to other devices. Trying to merge two data sets can result in duplication and corruption.
If your Google account already has contacts, export them from Google as a vCard file and import them into your Mac Address Book.
Once imported, delete the contacts from Google so the initial sync pushes all your Mac info into Gmail. As always, it’s a good idea to back up your data before any sync endeavor. From the Mac Address Book, go to the File menu, then choose Export, and then Address Book Archive.
For your calendar, the safe sync concept is similar but you actually want to start with a populated Google calendar and a clear iCal. From experience, if you push too much into Google at once, it can choke. If you already have a Google calendar, back it up by clicking “Settings” under the “My calendars” Then choose “Export Calendars”.
They’ll download as a zip file that you can double click and get the individual .ICS files. Similarly, backup your iCal by visiting the File Menu and choose “Backup iCal.”
Syncing can be buggy under the best of circumstances, which is why I recommend backups throughout the whole process.
Now that both your Google Calendar and your iCal calender are backed up, you’ll then want to export your existing iCal calendars and import then into your Google calendar. This isn’t the same as backing them up. Click on a calendar, and then go to the File menu and choose “Export This” which will create individual .iCal files for each calender you use. Note that Google doesn’t like To Dos so go ahead and remove those beforehand.
Now that you have your individual iCals exported, go to that same Settings tab in Google under “My Calendars” and now import your individual iCals into your existing calendars. Note: it won’t give you an option to create a new calendar from the import, so have your Google calendars ready beforehand. Finally, delete your iCal calendars (remember to back up first) so your iCal is clear of info and all your data is now on Google’s servers.
3) Getting Your Sync On
If you skipped step two, proceed at your own risk. You have been warned.
If you have Snow Leopard, Google contact syncing is built-in: go to the Address Book Preferences and check “Synchronize with Google”. Put in your Google name and password and let the syncing begin! For Leopard users, you’ll need to own an iPhone or iPod touch to enable syncing or use third party apps like Gsync.
To sync calendars, you’ll need to be running Leopard or Snow Leopard. Go to your iCal application and then go to Preferences and then Accounts. Click the + icon and put whatever you want for description. For username put your name@gmail.com and your password for Gmail. Then under the disclosure triangle for Server Options, put https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/(followed by your googlemail address) and then user.
So for example, https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/myname@gmail.com/user would be what you enter. Your calendars will now start downloading from the cloud. Alternatively, you can use BusySync and avoid these hassles.
For photos, iTunes-like picture sync isn’t available, but you can mount your Droid like any other mass-storage device and have it recognized. You’ll need to enable USB mounting first. Go to the menu at the top of your phone and then click USB Connection to mount the SD card. To move music and other multimedia files easily I recommend DoubleTwist.
Having used a Droid for a while I’m pretty darn impressed and you gotta love the advertising. If Mac syncing is holding you back from buying one, you just removed one reason not to switch!
Переслать - Rumor Has It: WWDC 2010 Set for June 28-July 2
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is as inevitable as the changing of the seasons, but that doesn’t stop me from getting excited when we get word of a firm date for the event. The Moscone Center’s booking schedule today reveals a block between June 28 and July 2 reserved for a “Corporate Event.”
The timing fits perfectly with Apple’s traditional schedule for the event, which always falls somewhere in late June/early July. In addition, Apple has in the past used the bland “Corporate Event” as the stand-in title for the WWDC. Taken together, this amounts to more than just a rumor, but it remains speculation on the technicality that Apple hasn’t officially commented.
The WWDC keynote speech, which will in all likelihood take place Tuesday, June 29, if history is any indication, has seen the introduction of a new iPhone for the past three years. Most, if not all, industry watchers expect this time around to be no different in that regard. What people don’t agree on is what the new iPhone will have in store for consumers.
TUAW points out one interesting possibility: The keynote would mark the debut of a new iPhone exactly three years later than the release of the first, which many suspect is when Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T ends. If true, the timing seems remarkably suited for the announcement of a new partnership with another provider, be it Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint.
The international trend has been toward more iPhones on more providers, and Apple would be able to benefit from opening up the sale of its device in terms of both subscriber count and improved service quality, so I’d say a new partnership announcement is likely to be in the offing.
Переслать - App Store External Games Rating Pressure Mounts
Apple implemented its own games rating system when it introduced iPhone OS 3.0, one that’s designed to let consumers know what kind of content they’re in for when they buy any kind of software from the App Store. But according to some notable critics, it isn’t enough.
South Korean regulators, for instance only allow games to be sold in the country that are reviewed and rated by the official government Games Ratings Board, and so the Korean App Store actually doesn’t include a “Games” category or any of the apps therein.
The blanket blocking policy isn’t a perfect solution, though, since many games are still available through the “Entertainment” section, or by using the App Stores of other countries, something which is very easy to do using a fake U.S. address and temporary Visa gift card, for example. The Ratings Board is worried about the violent and sexual content that slips through these cracks.
Speaking to the Korea Herald, one official for the video game regulatory group said that they’d approached Apple to discuss the possibility of opening up the App Store’s games to review and classification by the board, but that Apple had yet to respond. As the iPhone continues to gain ground in the South Korean market — some 150,000 units have been sold in the three weeks since it was launched — tension between the Ratings Board and Apple is expected to grow.
Another country notorious for its game ratings, Australia, is also seeking to gain the ability to review content before its offered for sale to consumers via the App Store. Sooner or later, I expect Apple will have to address these requests, but I imagine it’ll wait until some organization or legislation forces its hand.
Переслать - Small Biz Corner: Email Campaign Software
Welcome to a new monthly series from TheAppleBlog. Each month we will cover a a specific topic specific to Small Businesses who use Macs.
As a small business owner/sole proprietor, connecting with customers is hard. There are all sorts of communication tools available, with social media being the most prevalent today. However, as old-school as it might seem, email is still the killer-app for the web. And, given that, you must have a strategy to connect with your customers via email. Thankfully, there are many tools on the Mac available to help you do just that.
What type of email campaigns might you use? Some examples might include:
- Marketing Slicks
- Press Releases
- Newsletters
- Advertisements
- And more
For the purpose of this article, let’s look at both Pro editions of Direct Mail from e3 Software and MaxBulk Mailer from MaxProg. Both applications are relatively easy to use, although I found Direct Mail to be a little easier to work with overall. Each version has more features than their basic counterparts. To see a comparison list between the standard and pro features, please read here (Direct Mail) and here (MaxBulk).
Direct Mail Pro 2.2.3
When you first launch Direct Mail Pro, you receive a warning about sending SPAM. This is noteworthy, because of the two apps, only Direct Mail Pro mentions this as a potential issue.
SPAM nanny screen from Direct Mail
Upon agreement, you are presented with the main application and can see the options available. Direct Mail Pro automatically detects and uses any email accounts already present on your computer. To get started, I created a sample email (I copied the HTML from another email) and then added Mail Merge tags for the date and first name (there are tags available):
Direct Mail Initial Window with an example Email - credit comes from U2.com
Direct Mail Pro integrates with the Address Book, Microsoft Entourage and Daylite (as well as others) so that you can easily add users or groups. Once the users are added, click Send Message…
Direct Mail Pro includes (for a significant upgrade fee of $60) an email delivery service if you would rather not use your own email account.
Send Message Dialog Box
After you click Send, you’ll receive another SPAM warning. In some ways, this is irritating, although I can understand the precaution from the developer. Frankly, there should be an option to not see this dialog box.
SPAM nanny dialog box, round II
With the included e3 Delivery Service in Direct Mail Pro, you can track emails and view reports that include the email message, statistics, any hyperlinks, if the email was received by its audience as well as any potential bounced emails:
Direct Mail Pro History Tab with Reports/Results
MaxBulk Mailer Pro 7.1
When compared to Direct Mail Pro, MaxBulk Mailer Pro is a similar, yet different animal. MaxBulk takes a more hands-on approach to solving the email campaign problem. There is much more configuration involved than Direct Mail Pro, and with that configuration comes a little more flexibility.
There are no SPAM warnings when you first run MaxBulk Mailer Pro. The application window is very similar to Direct Mail Pro in that you have main some main tabs and simple toolbar for managing your email creation. In the example below, I have created a plain text email and provided some initial tags and specified formatting.
MaxBulk Mailer Pro Message Window with Tags
Unlike Direct Mail Pro, you do have to configure your email settings in the Settings tab. This is more cumbersome and can take some trial and error to ensure you have the right configuration prior to sending your message. Further, there is a preview tab that displays what the final message will look like and allows you to render your message in a browser.
Once your message has been sent, you receive a confirmation email with the relevant statistics:
MaxBulk Mailer Pro Delivery Report
A unique feature to MaxBulk Mailer Pro is that you can configure your own server to process the results of any email campaigns you send (this takes a little more configuration and advanced knowledge of database and FTP setup). Compared to Direct Mail Pro which includes its e3 Delivery service (and for a $60 premium), this is a nice feature.
MaxBulk Mailer Pro MLM Installation Dialog Box
Conclusion
Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you like tools that do the work for you? If you’re the former, then I recommend MaxBulk Mailer. If you’re the latter, then I recommend Direct Mail Pro. Of course, there are other factors you need to consider, including:
Pricing
- MaxBulk Mailer Pro is $59.90, which includes the ability to track email messages that you set up on your own server.
- Direct Mail Pro is $119, but it includes the ability to track email messages, handle bounced emails and more without any extra work on your end.
Application Integration
- Native: Apple Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, Apple Mail, CSV files and more.
- Via a separate plugin, you can import contacts from Marketcircle’s Daylite as well.
As for me, I chose Direct Mail Pro. I find the product is more polished and it makes email creation and management easier. In the end, I don’t think you will fail to accomplish your customer communication goal with either program.
FTC Disclaimer: Not-for-resale copies were provided for this review.
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