Saturday, June 30, 2007

Day 1 with iPhone - Disaster!

So, I queued for 2 hours last night to collect the most expensive cellphone on this planet and was promised that signing on is 'a breeze'.

I get up this morning excited about Day 1 with my iPhone.

I plug her in and wait while iTunes updates itself for the iPhone. Maybe 5 minutes. That's OK.

I then wait while iTunes takes me through the set up process only to find out that if I want to set up a family plan I can't do it through iTunes and have to call AT&T. I mean its just a friggin' family plan - not a shuttle to Mars!

After an hour waiting for someone at AT&T to pick up I give up. Today is a busy day for me - I have a gallery opening. After all I spent a fortune on a (i)phone/organizer so time is money - right?

At this point I have queued 2 hours at the Apple store and a further hour waiting pointlessly for a customer service rep. Nearly 24 hours later I still can't activate my iPhone. I feel as hung up as the guy in the picture.

iPhone, iDay... iDamnedmess!!

Queuing for my iPhone

OK, so I joined the geeknorati last night at an inconspicuous mall in Long Island (to avoid rambunctiously pointless queues) and dished out a small fortune to, well, say I got one of the first iPhones.

Plus if this does prove to be iDay (or not) then I thought my kids should see it (assuming it's not the not!).

OK, so the kid part was reaching. I just couldn't resist...

We returned way late so I'll be gearing up today. Think of me.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

iPhone, uPhone, eyePhone

iPhone, uPhone, eyePhone...

The queues swirl about the Apple grid like snakes surrounding prey.

Every commentator has had their say - and say. Say it big coz it's a blitz. 1 million users or 100 million - its still the coolest phone launch yet. Or is it moviePhone?

So Nokia poo-poohs and Motorola stumbles.

I just wanna know where I can get one come the weekend. Heads up?

Friday, June 22, 2007

iPhone, i-rock, YouTube?

Apple's iPhone - one week and counting - has just got hotter than ever. Not only can you rock to iTunes tunes, but now you can roll with YouTube vids. Thank God for the longer life batteries.

Yep, one of Apple's first applications for their nifty little mobile handset is a YouTube streamer. After Google Maps of course.

Up next? Blogger.com, iWeb updater, MySpace and some token gesture to ailing Yahoo! After all Steve does like Jerry. (Not the cat!).

Monday, June 18, 2007

Yang to do for Yahoo what Jobs has done at Apple

Yahoo has followed Apple's successful strategy today by announcing that their much needed turnaround will be spearheaded by co-founder Yang.

Out with Semel and in with the young CEO-in-waiting.

Yang will have Decker at his side to manage things day-to-day and will finally get to spearhead the company he successfully founded.

But can he turn this mother-ship round? If he focuses on taking on MySpace from a portal perspective while being a strong number 2 to Google in the ad space - he might even stand a chance.

He'll also need some of the visionary genius that surrounds Jobs - maybe their new found partnership might rub it off!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

MusicStation takes on the iPod and iPhone

A start-up called Omnifone run a buy a UK entrepreneur called Rob Lewis (hey, I know you!) is about to launch a rival to iTunes - in Europe and Asia.

They have teamed up with most major handset makers, 30 mobile operators and the 4 big music labels to offer a service called MusicStation which allows you to download unlimited music to your mobile phone only (no CD or PC) for $15 per month.

Given the reach, the service could be available on hundreds of millions of phones and be available before the iPhone outside the US.

Steve Jobs may have finally found his match. The only potential flaw in the system I can see is not being able to copy my MusicStation music to my PC. Maybe that'll come down the road.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Apple turning into a media company

Apple's busy.

The iPhone comes out in two weeks. Apple.com has been revamped.

Safari 3 has been released (it's much closer to Mozilla Firefox and faster) for Macs and PC's. I still think Firefox is the best browser for bloggers though.

And Apple TV is fast becoming a tool to take on the cable companies. Starting this fall Apple hopes to launch a video-on-demand service which will enable us to rent Hollywood's best (they hope) for a few bucks and no doubt bounce it around our living room TV's along with family vid's from Youtube.

iTunes becoming a media company? You bet. That should fuel a few more years of mother ship growth.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Apple TV streams YouTube

As if the imminent launch of the iPhone is not enough, Apple's big living room bet, the Apple TV has embraced the Internet. And gone beyond iTunes.

You can now stream your favorite (or less than) YouTube videos straight onto your big screen (or not) TV. Expect many more such content partnerships from the Apple team.

Maybe Apple is taking a bite out of Microsoft's playlist with partnerships front and center.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Google should just buy Saleforce.com

So today Google and Salesforce.com announced their much expected partnership combining Salesforce's small business system with Google AdWords.

But why doesn't Google just buy Salesforce and combine their offerings to truly take Microsoft on in the small business arena?

Makes sense to me. I guess that's why I don't run Google!

Monday, June 04, 2007

Gates versus Jobs!

Gates versus Jobs - the latest cat fight?

Or is it Jobs with Gates. Check this out! (and watch the video...)

You figure.