Before I owned an iPhone, and a Nokia E61 before that, and a BlackBerry 7290 before THAT, I briefly owned a Danger HipTop on the FIDO network. I returned it and went with a BlackBerry mostly because of the sheer size of the HipTop. I just couldn’t justify carrying that brick around. If only it had been smaller, I might have kept it. I’ve long had a bit of a fascination with the HipTop series of devices from Danger, and they have improved on the size of their device over the years, but I don’t think the size improvements for the most part have kept up with the industry. They’re still fairly bulky.
That being said, they had a pretty decent hardware design concept, a very usable OS (although the interface was a tad childish for my taste) and a promising platform/application distribution strategy. But one thing they have never been is particularly successful in the overall handset market. So I’m a bit confused (and saddened) by this latest news that the Borg has gobbled up Danger, Inc.
“Sure, the folks in Redmond didn’t get their grubby mitts on Yahoo! (yet), but at least they picked up a little something for their mobile division, namely: Danger. According to news just crossing the wires, the monolithic company has picked up the Sidekick-creators for an undisclosed amount, and will subsequently fold the phone-maker into its mobile wing. Is there a Windows Mobile version of the Hiptop in our future? Survey says yes.â€
There’s no doubt this has something to do with RIM and iPhone’s threat to Windows Mobile, as well as the impending Google Android threat, but at first glance, it’s difficult to understand what Danger might have to offer Microsoft.
Danger used to be a hardware designer, so Microsoft may be looking to enter the handset market with this purchase. But if they wanted a cool hardware design, they could have done better than Danger, who aren’t exactly selling HipTops by the truckload. Why not buy Motorola’s mobile business instead? Motorola is officially considering divesting itself of it’s mobile phone unit, after all. I don’t think this has to do with hardware though. For one, Danger has all but given up on the hardware, just one look at Danger’s website makes that imminently clear. Other than in a YouTube video, I can’t find pictures of their HipTop anywhere.
Microsoft also runs the risk of pissing off their existing Windows Mobile license owners. Something they can’t afford to do right now. They did that in the DAP market when they launched the Zune, which has failed to make any serious inroads against the iPod/iTunes juggernaut while at the same time weakening their existing PlaysForSure Certified for Windows Vista licensing effort (what was up with that rebranding move anyway?!?).
I also find it hard to believe that Microsoft sees any real value in Danger’s software, given that Microsoft has their own mobile phone OS. Microsoft has demonstrated long ago that it doesn’t need to pay for a good software idea, they can simply borrow it and make it their own. So what is it then?
I believe the answer to that question lies in these images from Danger’s website. One depicting the “Danger experience” and the other of their new business model:
These images depict a total solutions company. A company that can offer everyone in the ecosystem value, and more importantly provide a source of income from all levels. Microsoft’s current offerings only directly targets the OEM handset makers and the end users and completely leaves out the service providers, where most of the money is. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s two biggest competitors, RIM and Apple, have already figured out how to tap into the service provider revenue stream. RIM by providing the backbone service to it’s mobile email offering, and Apple by giving it’s partners a very compelling phone to lure subscribers with, as well as back-end services like the iTunes WiFi Store as well as email/information services through partnerships with other providers such as Google and Yahoo!.
Danger, once largely a handset OS/hardware company has already done all of the legwork to turn itself into an end-to-end solutions company. So by buying Danger, Microsoft acquires much of the knowledge, technology and relationships it needs to shift from being simply the maker/licensor of the Windows Mobile OS into a complete solutions provider in a bid to better position itself against the offerings of it’s competitors.
Overall, this seems like a smart move, but how easily it can be accomplished has yet to be seen. Danger’s technology has been about open standards and the use of Java. It’s no doubt going to take a lot of work to integrate it with Microsoft’s proprietary OS and APIs, but probably not as much work as trying to develop a similar solution from scratch, especially considering Microsoft is late to the party and was obviously completely unprepared to deal with not one, but two giants suddenly entering the market.
Unfortunately, there’s very little doubt that the current Danger mobile OS’s days are numbered, much to the sorrow of current HipTop/Sidekick fans. Less clear is the fate of the HipTop swivel screen form factor. Microsoft might choose to develop it further and use it to release it’s own handset (a.k.a., the Zune phone), or they might continue to license it out for others to build and brand as their own. What they choose to do really depends on how big the market is for the swivel device. Given that it wasn’t that wildly successful to begin with, Microsoft might just let it die a quiet death.
So HipTop/Sidekick fans, what’s worse? The form factor disappearing altogether, or living on it’s existance running the uninspiring Windows Mobile OS? Sound off in the comments or discuss it in the Art Of Geek forums!
February 11th, 2008
Hey there fellow Canadians! Do you have an unlocked iPhone operating on a Canadian GSM network? If the answer is yes, then stand proud as you’re a member of an elite group of people who are willing to stop at nothing to talk, text, surf, work and play on the best mobile phone out there! So what better way to show others you’re proud to be part of this distinguished group but to plaster the Canadian flag across your screen for all the world (or just passers-by) to see!
I did some searching and couldn’t find a Canadian flag wallpaper anywhere on the web, so I decided to take matters (and PhotoShop) into my own hands and create one. I figured I’m probably not the only one who has wanted to do this, so I’m making my simple creation available for others to download and enjoy.
So how do you get it on your iPhone? Just right-click (or ctrl+click) the image on the left and choose “Save linked file” (or whatever the equivalent is on your browser/OS of choice) or click the image to open the full size version in a new window and drag it to your Desktop. Then add it to iPhoto and put it in a Photo Album that you have set to sync with your iPhone in iTunes and sync your iPhone to transfer it over. On the iPhone, open Settings–>Wallpaper and choose the image from the appropriate photo album and voila! Windows users, just do the equivalent steps for Windows using your photo organization/sync method of choice.
More advanced users may choose to copy the file directly to the iPhone’s wallpaper folder using scp or sftp. If you fall into this category, then you already know what you’re doing, so you don’t need me to spell it out for you.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you’re wondering how I got the screenshot of the iPhone lock screen, I followed this hint from ZDNet.
February 8th, 2008
[Update 1] Good news for those who have been waiting for an unlock solution for iPhones that ship with firmware 1.1.2 or 1.1.3 out of the box. An iPhone hacker named George Hotz (a.k.a. geohot) has just posted an unlock solution for you.
Details and instructions are a little technical though, so unless you understand everything that he says in his blog post, you might want to hold off until someone posts an easy to follow tutorial and we have more reports from people who have done it successfully. Reading through the comments on geohot’s blog post, someone posted this link to one page in a very long thread on the Hackint0sh forums which explains things step by step, but please note that I haven’t tried this myself. I cannot vouch for the quality of the unlock or the accuracy of the tutorials, so proceed at your own risk.
Most users will want to hold off until someone packages this unlock into a simple one-button iPhone application. I’ll post an update once I’ve seen one.
Update 1 - 2/8/2008, 2:12 pm: A reported success story was posted in
this ehmac.ca thread. They did a pretty good job of documenting the steps they used, so for those brave souls who want to try it, hope this helps!
February 8th, 2008
[Update 5] AppleInsider’s report today on a new Rogers wireless $20 unlimited on-device browsing package called the $20 Communicate Value Pack got me super excited about finally having a data plan worthy of my iPhone:
Canadian wireless carrier Rogers Communications, often criticized for its exorbitant data rates, has just introduced a $20 per month unlimited data plan that could knock out one more barrier to an official iPhone launch in Canada.
The Toronto, Ontario-based carrier said customers could start adopting the new plan, dubbed the $20 Communicate Value Pack, beginning today. In addition to unlimited on-device mobile browsing, it also offers 2500 standard outgoing text messages, 1000 outgoing picture or video messages, call display and voicemail.
I immediately called Rogers to find out more about the package and sign up if it was true. I was connected with a sales rep who seemed adamant that the unlimited browsing was limited to a 3 month promotion period, afterwhich it was limited to 5MB of data. So I jumped on Rogers website and found the plan listed exactly as AppleInsider had reported here and here. I took the following screenshots, just to prove it, in case the website changes:
I pointed this out to the customer service rep, and she seemed to disagree on what the website actually said, continuing to argue that the unlimited browsing was for the promotion period only, no matter how hard I tried to convince her that the website didn’t mention that at all. So I asked to speak with a supervisor. After a good five minutes on hold, the supervisor finally came on and after she was sure where I was coming from, she put me on hold for another five to ten minutes before coming back, apologized sincerely and explained that it was an error on the Rogers.com website. The plan is only a 5MB data plan, with unlimited browsing for only the first 3 months. Apparently I raised a serious shitstorm over at Rogers HQ, because she said they were working to have the error corrected on the website, and thanked me for bringing it to their attention.
Needless to say, I was quite disappointed, but pleasantly surprised when she then offered to credit my current $10/10MB data plan AND give me unlimited data for the next 6 months. I guess I couldn’t argue with that deal. I would have rather been able to pay $20/month for unlimited data forever, but 6 months of unlimited data for free is a pretty good consolation prize. I guess I was so pleasantly surprised because for once Rogers actually offered to try and make me happy without me having to get mad or threaten to cancel my service. If I’m really lucky, Rogers will actually start offering an unlimited data plan for $20/month by the time my 6 month freebie expires. 
If any of you actually manage to get the $20 plan as was advertised above, or a sweet payout like I got, please post your experience in the comments below or discuss it in the Art Of Geek forums!
Update 1 - 2/6/2008, 2:35 pm: Well, if the plan posting on Rogers website is a mistake, they’re taking their sweet ass time correcting it. I’m starting to doubt the information provided by the rogers reps I spoke to, but I would caution anyone adding this plan to their iPhone to be extra careful that you have them confirm that it will work with an iPhone, and make a note of the person’s name and the date and time of your call to Rogers in case they try to bill you additional charges. The fine print listed on the first page I link to above states the following:
* Plan includes unlimited on-device mobile browsing only. Plan is available on select phones only (PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible). Data usage incurred on ineligible devices, incurred while tethering (using device as wireless modem for laptop) or incurred using non-Rogers (3rd party) applications downloaded to your device will be subject to pay-per-use charges of 5 cents/KB.
That sounds a lot like Rogers might very well be able to get out of honoring the “unlimited on-device browsing” for iPhone customers by claiming that it’s not one of the ’select phones’, or is classified as a PDA, or is ‘a non-Rogers certified’ device. I have to say though, if they do want to play hardball, they’re going to have a bit of a legal issue if their customer service reps aren’t explaining this to customers and the fine print is missing from the 2nd link I posted detailing what’s included in the plan.
Update 2 - 2/11/2008, 4:05 pm: The news has finally been picked up by the mainstream media. CBC.ca posted this article earlier today:
Rogers ‘unlimited’ cellphone plans draw fire.
Update 3 - 2/11/2008, 4:25 pm: Ars Technica is covering the story as well:
Rogers Unlimited data plan not so unlimited after all. Do you think if they get enough bad publicity over this that they might do something about it? Yeah, I know, wishful thinking. This is Rogers we’re talking about…
Update 4 - 2/12/2008, 6:20 pm: The Register, a little late to the party, has also picked up this story:
Rogers wraps ‘unlimited’ mobile browsing in small print
Update 5 - 3/7/2008, 1:30 pm: Well, I just got screwed. Just got my Rogers bill, and they have switched me to the $20 Communicate Value Pack, even though I had explicitly told them I didn’t want my plan to change. Now I’m being told they can’t put things back the way they were because the $10 Mobile Internet Plan no longer exists. They still can’t give me a straight answer about the iPhone and the $20 Communicate Value Pack or $7 Unlimited on-device mobile browsing. So in 6 months when my unlimited data runs out, I’m probably going to have to either take a cut in data usage, or start paying more than I used to, maybe even for less data than I was getting before. The Data representative told me they only have $30/8MB or $60/30MB plans available now. This is progress?!?
February 5th, 2008
Apple released iTunes 7.6 today along with the much anticipated iPhone & iPod Touch firmware 1.1.3. It’s worth repeating that if you have hacked your iPhone or iPod Touch (jailbroken it, unlocked it, etc.), then you SHOULD NOT install the new 1.1.3 firmware. Use common sense and let the experts have a crack at it first.
Now iTunes 7.6 appears to be safe. I’ve installed it and have synchronized my jailbroken and iPhoneSimFree unlocked 1.1.2 firmware iPhone without any apparent issues. Might be a good idea to hold off a few days just to be sure, but so far so good. If you have a hacked iPhone and have updated iTunes to 7.6, let us know in the comments how it went. Please include details about your hacked iPhone (firmware, hacks applied and unlock method if applicable).
January 15th, 2008
MacNN today posted a fairly in-depth summary of a new patent application filed by Apple computer with the US Patent and Trademark Office in March 2006 for a “Multi-functional hand-held deviceâ€. This patent makes reference to technologies first identified in previous patent applications for “Proximity detector in handheld deviceâ€, a “Virtual Scroll-Wheel Interface†and “Display actuators for electronic devicesâ€. While no doubt most of the patents Apple applies for never see the light of day, the fact that the same technologies from earlier patent applications are being mentioned in this new filing indicates at the very least that someone at Apple is running with these concepts.
Is it a wide-screen video iPod, an iPhone, Apple Newton resurrected or a combination of the three? There’s no way to know for sure, but all this information certainly does make the wait for Tuesday, Sept. 12 that much harder. While I doubt we’ll see any out of this world mobile chameleon device being announced, it’s still nice to hope for what fantastic Star Trek-ish device Apple has up it’s sleeves.
Adding fuel to the speculation is the fact that Apple released updated iMac and Mac mini computers this week with little fanfare. Products that most tech pundits were expecting Apple to unveil at their special event next week. Sure, faster processors don’t warrant any special event these days, but the new 24″ high-end HD capable iMac certainly would tie in nicely with the movie download service everyone is expecting Apple to unveil. I mean they only had to hold off on the announcement for an extra week. So what gives? Not announcing the new iMacs at the “It’s Showtime†event can mean only one thing: That there are more exciting things to announce and they don’t want to eat up precious time talking about a new iMac, as drool-worthy as it may be.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really hoping Apple announces an iPhone. But if I had to bet money on it, I’d guess we’ll see an event focused on movies, which means iTMS movie downloads (most likely for $14.99 and $9.99 a pop), new iPod nano’s in an aluminum scratch resistent enclosure, updated iPod video with a small chance of a bigger screen video model, and the piece to resistance: a new AirPort Express with Video, or similar set-top box for streaming your iTMS video downloads from your computer to your TV in the living room. This is where I’m setting my expectations, and I think that I’m setting relatively low. Anything above and beyond will be icing on the cake. Better keep some space on the ‘ol credit card just in case…
[3:58 pm Update: MacNN has posted an article about another related Apple patent application submitted in April 2006 for a “Hand held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devicesâ€. Hopefully in time more pieces of the puzzle will come into place. Of course, the puzzle will be solved if and when Apple formally announces new products that are designed around any/all of this technology.]
September 7th, 2006
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