Mountain View Cellphones

7/15/2010 by www.Mountainviewcellphones.com

Apple’s got more major problems but now they are very large strategic problems as well.  Android is eating away at IPHONE, quickly.  We all know about the consumer reports and RF problems with the IPhone, and Apple will probably come out with a fix for it tomorrow, but that is really not the biggest issue (although it’s big). 

The biggest issue is that the world has caught up and is surpassing the IPhone.

1.  IPhone lost smartphone market share in the latest 3 month average by comscore.  Android grew by 4%.   By a sheer feature list comparison, phones are on par or surpassing the IPhone.  Other traditional manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG have better camera’s and video capability, faster and faster processing speeds in software and hardware, and definitely faster networking speeds for the devices with Sprint 4G and Verizon LTE coming.  Droid does better.  Android leverages the vast manufacturing expertise of Motorola, Samsung, and LG.  The Empire Strikes back so to speak.  Every carrier has a Droid now and soon every carrier globally.  At this rate, Android will have same market share as Apple by 2011 and will surpass Apple in 2011.     

2.  Technologically, Android phones are now on par and improving at faster rates and address more form factors and niches of the market.  According to Google Blog, there are 160,000 daily activations of Android devices globally.   This is DAILY…and this is GROWING.  Apple’s current theory of one Phone to rule them all is quickly falling apart in the reality that many users prefer different physical form factors and different carriers.  As Apple grapples with this fundamental problem, it may mean lower margins, more R&D, and bigger overhead costs of managing these processes.  Apple will need to come out with more form factors…it happened at RIMM, it will happen at Apple to.  There are low end markets, high end markets, big fingers, long finger nails, rough environments, data hogs, Internet addicts, social networking addicts, super texters, etc…all sorts of people.  Apple can decide they are going to give away the niches to all the other players or they can decide to go after each major one.  If they don’t go and compete in the niches, they will lose even more market share faster and jeopardize their current leadership in the app space (the crown jewel).  If they do go after the niches, this will reduce their economies of scale and profitability and increase the management headache 10.0x to work with many carriers, many form factors, and many different phone engineering projects running concurrently in house.  Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.  This is the game that the traditional cellular manufacturers play well in, look at the form factors available on Samsung, numerous.  They are 1-2 years ahead of Apple in being able to produce many different products and form factors and niche phones profitably.  This plays into the strengths of current phone manufacturers and against Apple.        

3.  Developers love Apple but even here Apple is clamping down.  With moves to not allow developers into the club if they also promote Droid will not slow Droid down.  It is either going to involve illicit deceit or creative legal fees to avoid Apple’s contract for developers, while they produce for both Droid and Apple, or they will just leave Apple altogether and bet it all on Android.  Developers want to develop for the largest platform, and currently Apple is that platform, but it’s losing share fast.  Android has it’s own warts in that manufacturers can modify it to much to not allow one application to run on many different devices, but I think for now manufacturers and smart enough to not kill the golden goose.

4.  The Wild Card.  Android TV.  I think Google is going to get it sooner or later and they probably have already.  Here’s my prognostication, Android will be the platform for all three screens (TV, Browser, and Phone).  Currently at Google there are separate teams for Android and Chrome, but this can change and will probably change.  There is just to much strategic value in being able to link a platform across all various form factors.  An Android developer can build something for phone that works on TV and on the computer.  It’s the ultimate development platform across different “types” of devices as well as many form factors for those devices.  It’s pie in the sky thinking but it’s really not that far away and Google has the resources to make this a reality.  Developers will have to think not just about mobile but the whole shebang and Android will be the most obvious choice.  Apple is attempting a similar strategy with Apple TV and the unique Ipad and will be a contender in this arena as well.  Again…Google is reaching out to partners who can manufacture in myriad ways and to have them adopt Android.  Manufacturers gain by having a great flexible OS at little if any cost and they can gain a competitive advantage for their products (currently). 

It’s an exciting time.  Apple’s got a lot to think about and execute on.  Are they going to remain a niche player and do their own thing? or will they go into more form factors to address niche markets better.

By www.mountainviewcellphones.com 2/20/2010

The Samsung Moment is a much overlooked Android phone, but recently it’s been on a hot streak. With Sprint lowering the price of the unit to $99.00 and people discovering it’s greater speed and usability, it’s becoming a best seller for us.

However, it does have some software glitches we have seen. These are very minor but do make you visit your local Sprint service center.

1. The CL14 update works very easily; however, it will erase the phone and the apps you loaded on it. You will need to reset everything, but at least the GPS will work properly and it will be a more stable phone.

2. We’ve found that if you download too much at the same time that the phone may freeze and then go into a repeating boot loop. This is confirmed by other blog posts. We needed to get to the Android recovery utility and force and clean wipe of the device. After this, it worked fine.

3. Once we downloaded CL14 and did the clean wipe, the device appeared to work fine.

You can brick the phone if you don’t follow the directions in the CL14 upgrade process carefully. You have to enter in some esoteric codes and plug and unplug the device at various stages to get the upgrade software to work right (and we are the Service Center).

Outside of these minor points, this is a great device. The only complaint I personally have with the phone is that the space bar key is to small, but outside of that, customer satisfaction with Android is solid. Sprint’s network delivers on it’s data promise. Lastly, of course, being the best value in wireless, Sprint delivers on the pocket book as well.

4/18/2009 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

Opera is a common name among people who have an interest in improving their browser experience.  Opera now ships standard on windows mobile phones and will hopefully be standard on many other phones as well.  For example, the Samsung Instinct can now adopt Opera in newer updates.

Opera is great for several reasons:

1.  A full HTML experience browser with zoom in/out capabilities for a small screen.

2.  Easy access to bookmarks and management of the booksmarks.

3.  Integration of web pages with regular phone functions like dialing a number from a web search

4.  Integration of your desktop Opera experience with your phone to sync many data points

Opera provides a better browser experience overall than standard shipped web browsers on many phones.  Opera on a Blackberry far surpasses the Blackberry browser.  The best part is that it’s free for the users to use and download.

Opera can be downloaded at mini.opera.com.  Get it and your use of the web on the phone will jump dramatically.

10/27/2008  By www.mountainviewcellphones.com

Sprint has a great new line up of phones releasing into the Christmas season.  Here is everything new now and going into the near future.

1.  Samsung Rant  (EVDO Rev 0 version of the popular LG Rumor Phone).  Better and slightly bigger in all respects, yet has the same price point of $49.99.  Comes in Red and blue.

2.  LG Lotus.  A great compact flip phone with a QWERTY keyboard.  Purple and Black colos.

3.   HTC Diamond and HTC Touch Pro.  The Touch Pro is a smoking product.  Windows 6.1, virtual keyboard and real keyboard, expandable memory, 3.2 MP camera, AWESOME screen resolution.  It will sell well for those who want the top of the line unit.

4.  Sprint Air RAVE.  Discussed previously, but allows your own cell phone tower at any location with a high speed Internet connection.

5.  Samsung 220 and 320.  New basic phone line up.  The 320 is FREE phone with mail in rebate.  Buy 5 get 5 Free!!! as marketing would say

6.   Samsung Highnote.  This is THE music phone.  It’s much better than the UpStage it replaces and comes with a high quality compact speaker that can fill a room with your beats.  You can bring the party with you anywhere now.  I’m certain some amateur film student will be using this as background music to save time and money during the shoot.

7.  Sanyo Eclipse refresh with One Touch.  Illumination phone…pretty cool looking…otherwise a great multimedia phone that easy to find in your purse.

8.  New Nextel Blackberry.  Curve with a PTT button.  It will be a good device.

This is the best handset line-up Sprint has ever had.  The turnaround is actually producing some very real results now.

The AIRAVE product has rave reviews about the technology and the value proposition to Sprint customers.  With AIRAVE you will not have any more coverage problems as long as you have high-speed Internet access at your home. 

From Sprint Press Release 7/30/2008 

“The technology behind the AIRAVE has received several awards, including Best of Innovations at CES 2008, Emerging Technologies Award – 1st Place: Network Infrastructure Category at CTIA 2008 and Best of CTIA 2007 “Best Cell Phone Accessory” Award from LAPTOP Magazine.

Starting August 17, Sprint customers will be able to purchase the AIRAVE at Sprint stores across the country for $99.99 (taxes excluded). Customers are required to subscribe to the AIRAVE enhanced coverage plan, which is priced at just $4.99** per month in addition to the customer’s regular wireless voice plan. Customers who do not have one of Sprint’s unlimited voice plans, such as Simply Everything, can get unlimited in-home calling by subscribing to the optional AIRAVE Unlimited Voice plan for an additional $10 per month** for individuals or $20 per month for families.** For more information, customers can visit www.sprint.com/airave.” 

 For an extra $4.99/month per user, you can have coverage with your regular cell phone plan and for an additional $5.00/month you can have unlimited home calling to your cell phone from your home.  This is similar to the T-Mobile options but uses a technology strictly for cellphone service and expands the Sprint Network to work in your home or within 5,000 feet. 

This does two great things for consumers. 

1.  Eliminates the marketing BS about coverage and reliability.  Now the network has a cell tower inside your home.  What could be better?

2.  Provides coverage to anywhere you get high-speed Internet access inside buildings.  In building coverage is always a problem for any carrier and this provides an elegant solution.

3.  You still get a price advantage with Sprint over other carriers even with the additional $5.00 charge.  For example, you get the Unlimited Talk & Text Plan and an AIRAVE.  You are paying just $94.99/month for unlimited voice & unlimited texting.  This still saves you $20-$30 per month over AT&T and Verizon unlimited plans.  This is more than enough to off set the cost of the device at $99.99. 

Lastly, this is a Samsung product, so you will have great quality and ease of use. 

Another great Sprint innovation. 

By: www.mountainviewcellphones.com  7/17/2008

Sprint’s Mobile Sync on NDC (Nextel Direct Connect) phones is a great bonus to these devices.  Mobile Sync provides the capability to manage your contact lists online and with a computer sync to Outlook.  This gives great protection to your contacts and to your company in managing several phones and contact lists.

 Mobile sync provides several cool features.  Of course, these come at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.  Another great value advantage for Sprint.  Currently the models supported are the Sanyo Pro 700 & Pro 200, Samsung Z400, and LG LX400. 

1.  Network back up of your contacts is not standard on these phones.  A great way to ensure you don’t lose your contacts if you lose your phone or change phones.

2.  If you get a new phone with Mobile Sync, you can download the contacts from the network to your phone.  A great benefit to companies that need to manage several or several hundred phones.

3.  Sync with Outlook on desktops is included.  A small application is included that allows this. 

4.  Import or export of your contact list to the phone from correctly formated files for mass upload / downloads.

5.  You can create and save your Team or Group Connect lists.

For administrators of many phones, there are additional useful features.

1.  You can create and manage a shared address book with all the phones and the company phone list.

2.   You can assign particular numbers and push numbers to the phone from the online site.  This is a great tool for sending numbers to phones in a group setting (i.e. added an important vendor everyone needs the phone number of). 

3.  Lastly, you can assign call restrictions/access to all NDC radio functions to users.  So, if you only what particular users to call and receive calls from a small set of people, then you can now control that from online.

Sprint’s Mobile Sync is a great innovation and adds tons of value. 

By: www.mountainviewcellphones.com   6/28/2008

The Samsung Instinct is out and immediately OUT OF STOCK.  We get another large shipment in July, but until then, inventory will be spotty.  The great news is that this phone lives up to it’s promise and hype.  It’s not perfect but it does a great job in the things it’s designed to do well.

There are some great things about the phone that differentiate it from the IPHONE alternative.  Read the rest of this entry »

 By: MountainViewCellphones.com , 4/10/2008

Apple had to get in the cell phone business as music was moving towards becoming a feature rather than a separate device.  The IPOD era was ending and the IPHONE begun in 2007.  ITUNES, their premier franchise needed the support but even this has intense competition from proposals from everything music packages and even great music services like Pandora. 

Now we have this from CTIA:

Read the rest of this entry »

The Samsung ACE is finally here.  It supports Windows Mobile 6.0, high speed EVDO data rates, and International voice and data coverage.  The best part is that it’s all in a sleek package.  This is a great phone for taking care of business as well as a night on the town.

The new ACE is a global phone that can help you around the world in a windows OS.  It’s a great upgrade to the previous IP-830 in terms of size and in terms of quality.  It’s very similar to the Blackjack from AT&T in many regards, but unlike the Blackjack, it’s made to work globally on CDMA and GSM around the world and have high speed data access on both. 

The price point will also be very affordable at $199.99, the unit is comparable in many regards to the Blackberry 8830 but with a bonus camera.  Another phone to boost Sprint’s international line up.