11Jan2007
Two days ago I went through the idea that Apple’s phone wouldn’t be named ‘iPhone’ as it is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems. Yesterday I had to admit that I was wrong as Steve Jobs surprisingly announced Apple’s new iPhone.
Well, today we’ve known that both companies were negotiating to use the same mark. Finally, on monday evening there was no agreement but Apple’s arrogance let Jobs announce the iPhone without permission.
One of the possibilities I pointed out yesterday was that this story would end up in court and so it will be. Cisco sues Apple over use of iPhone trademark. What comes next? Only time will tell.
10Jan2007
I must admit that I was wrong in my yesterday’s post as I stated that Apple wouldn’t name ‘iPhone’ its expected new all-in-one device. Surprisingly, Apple has done it as announced in MacWorld Expo!
Surprisingly because ‘iPhone’ is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems. All right, you could think that Cisco has just licensed their trademark to be used by Apple but in fact they recently launched their own iPhone through Linksys. Anybody understands? Will we see future legal litigations?
Linksys’ iPhone is commercially available while Apple’s iPhone is still waiting to be authorized by the Federal Communications Commission but I guess Cisco and Apple will reach, if not yet, an agreement. After all, it’s just a question of money. What comes next? Only time will tell.
9Jan2007
Tons have been said about the new product launchings Apple will announce in current MacWorld Expo. Everybody is expecting Steve Jobs to show the new iPhone, a gadget which is been widely thought of being a mixture between a digital music player and a smart phone.
Well, I don’t know if Steve (no last name is needed) is going to show the world the iTV (Apple’s thought device to compete against TiVo) or a new music player able to make phonecalls, but what I am really sure is that the latter is not going to be named iPhone anyway.
Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, registered “iPhone” as a mark back in late nineties, but it has not been but till now that they have launched the iPhone product, which is, as Linksys says, more than a phone as it is able to connect to Skype network or to send instant messages via Yahoo! Messenger but no mp3 player at all (just access multimedia content from the Internet).
The question is: why now? Has Linksys taken advantage from all the branding campaing to launch their product or is it just a coincidence? The choice is yours but if I were a Microsoft guy I would prepare the launching of the “Zune Phone” as soon as possible! What comes next? Only time will tell.
3Jan2007
After a decent start in mid-november when it was unveiled, Microsoft’s Zune has not been able to reach more than #4 in portable music players war with just 1.9 percent market share compared to 62 percent for Apple’s iPod. SanDisk and Creative are second and third respectively.
Anyway, this is not peanuts at all for a new player in a estimated $6 billion market, but the worst thing is that Microsoft still has not convinced dealers. Only 10 percent of them recommend Zune over iPod, which is recommended by 70 percent of dealers.
This are no good news for short-term sales but Microsoft still claim its long-term commitment to the digital music player market. In spite of these sort-of-bad starting results, this is not the first time Microsoft is late for a market that would have almost ended dominating. Remember X-Box versus Sony’s PlayStation and even Windows-PC versus Apple’s Macintosh. What comes next? Only time will tell.
20Dec2006
So you thought you were a wireless person just because you connect to the Internet in WiFi way, send your pictures from your Bluetooth camera to your Bluetooth-enabled computer and read your email with your brand-new 3G mobile reader. What about your power cords and chargers for your devices?
Fortunately, these last cords you still use are going to disapper soon. WildCharge has developed a wire-free electric power technology to charge your mobile devices that is going to be available to public soon.
Their solution, the WildCharger Pad is charging pad which you place your mobile devices on and they get their power to be charged. Of course, your mobile devices must be compatible with the charging pad. These devices are called WildCharge-enabled devices.
Any WildCharge-enabled device can be charged. Even more, you can put more than one device on the pad at a time with the only physical limitation of how many devices can fit on the pad.
WildCharge is working with manufacturers in order to make WildCharge-enabled devices. Certified WildCharge devices will be mark with some kind of sticker.
Actually, as the pad do need its power cord, by now it is only a very good idea for using a more comfortable universal power charger for all your devices because in fact you lose your mobility while charging. What comes next? Only time will tell.
18Dec2006
Stop being just a listener. Now your iPod can be bidirectional and you can sing (or try to sing) lead vocals in your favourite songs.
iKaraoke is very compact all-in-one karaoke solution for your iPod as it is a microphone and processor in the same device. It works by isolating lead vocal track and fading it so you can make the song yours.
You can control the music, volume and reverb from the mic and, even more, everybody in the house can enjoy your talent (if you want) as it can be plugged into your music system or music can be broadcasted as FM signal you can tune in your home or auto receiver, turning your iPod into a wireless karaoke machine!
It works with any iPod with a dock connector and can be purchased online for $49.99. What about the Zune? What comes next? Only time will tell.