• Gavin O'Malley, Jun 28, 2010, 1:11 PM
  • 1.7 Million iPhone 4 Fans Can't Be Wrong Fast Company et al. Judging by early sales figures, Apple hasn't lost any of its mobile momentum with the launch of iPhone 4. On the contrary, the tech giant moved a cool 1.7 million units in three days. So what does this mean for Apple and its mobile rivals?

    "It's not as fast a sales rate as some analysts predicted but still represents huge successes in the face of controversy over its design," writes Fast Company. Some analysts apparently predicted Apple selling (1.5 million iPhone 4's on day one).

    "An impressive showing, particularly considering it took Apple 72 days to sell 1 million of the first iPhone in 2007," concludes Digital Daily.

    "To put the numbers in historical perspective, in 2008, Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3G devices within the same time frame (3 days) as the iPhone 4," writes ReadWriteWeb. "Last year, the company again sold 1 million of the 3GS model iPhones during its opening weekend. iPads, on the other hand, took a little longer to reach the million mark: 28 days, to be precise."

    "That's crazy," Information Week said of the strong iPhone 4 sales. "Given the large crowds that lined up for Apple's latest handset on June 24, it's not too much of a surprise that Apple sold so many."

    "Oddly enough, it's also the launch that seems to have had the most technical issues as well, given the antenna reception problems Apple confirmed both officially and unofficially last week," notes ReadWriteWeb.

    Indeed, "What's missing in the press release [that Apple just released touting iPhone 4 sales] is any mention of the controversy that appears to be building about the phone's technical design," adds Fast Company.

    Bigger picture, "The iPhone 4 has once again re-defined the smartphone landscape," according to GigaOm. "Witness Apple's competitors: they are introducing feature packed, big screen devices that are powered by beefy processors."

    Last week, for one, Motorola, Verizon and Google jointly announced the new Motorola Droid X. Now, T-Mobile is launching Samsung Vibrant -- which runs Google's Android 2.1 -- and which comes bundled with Amazon Kindle. Will it be iPod redux, where all the MP3-player wannabes in the world couldn't make a dent in Apple's dominance? asks Malik. Read the whole story...
  • Kindle (Kind Of) Adds Multimedia The Register As if the whole laptop vs. tablet vs. e-reader debate was complicated enough for consumers, Kindle books can now be embedded with video and audio content -- though only consumed by those using Apple's iOS hardware. "Amazon has long viewed the Kindle as a software platform rather than a piece of hardware, only launching its own device because it considered existing devices ineffective for reading," writes The Register.

    "But Apple has apparently changed that, so Amazon is now free to stick sounds and chunks of video into electronic books, even if it means those who shelled out for Kindle hardware are left in a technical dead end." At launch, only thirteen titles are making use of the new functionality, including a cookbook supported by video demos, and a nature guide that lets consumers actually hear various bird calls. Read the whole story...
  • New MSNBC.com Downplays Page-Views paidContent De-emphasizing the page-view, MSNBC.com's newly redesigned site touts a "less is more" minimalism, and a single-page-only format, which favors large, customizable ads, reports paidContent. "It is also promising to ... reduce the use of 'standalone' slideshows, something that has become a staple of many news sites to drive page-view counts as a way of measuring audience usage and engagement to advertisers."

    In their place, it plans to rely on more "integrated" slideshows, which are part of the page, and thus don't require clicking. Let it be know that "Msnbc.com is in the business of selling advertiser experiences, not ad units," an MSNBC rep tells paidContent. To be clear, the new site experience isn't entirely devoid of clicking, and includes a "social toolbar" for posting stories to Twitter or Facebook, as well as email. Read the whole story...
  • Obama Backs Wireless Expansion The New York Times Opening the floodgates for mobile media and communication, the Obama administration hopes to nearly double the wireless communications spectrum available for commercial use over the next 10 years, reports The New York Times. The effort, notes The Times, "could greatly enhance the ability of consumers to send and receive video and data with smartphones and other hand-held devices."

    The President today is expected to sign a presidential memorandum that seeks to make available for auction roughly 500 megahertz of spectrum, which is presently controlled by the federal government and private companies. The initiative reportedly follows recommendations made by the Federal Communications Commission in its National Broadband Plan, which encourages the expansion of high-speed wireless broadband services. According to The Times, television broadcast companies that have invested heavily in wired telecom networks represent the movement's greatest opposition. Read the whole story...
  • Facebook Takes Cash, Likely Over IPO TechCrunch Lessening the chances of an imminent IPO, Facebook has quietly raised another $120 million from Elevation Partners, TechCrunch reports, citing "a recent letter to its limited partners." In exchange, the VC firm has secured another 5 million shares of the top social net. In November, Elevation secured 2.5 million shares for $90 million. "That November deal has already gone up 2.5 times in value in a short eight months, making Facebook one of the better performing deals in Elevation's portfolio and an enviable holding for any firm," writes TechCrunch.

    "Even though the bulk of Elevation's Facebook shares were purchased at the more recent price, if you blend the two deals, there's still an on-paper gain." Together, Elevation's 7.5 million shares were purchased at a $14 billion valuation, and Facebook is "trading" at upwards of $24 billion on the secondary market, today, according to the industry blog. Read the whole story...
  • Why Do We Check In? ReadWriteWeb What's driving the location-based social networking trend? Media hype? Technological advancements -- particularly in the mobile arena -- coupled with a fast evolving social media revolution? "It's emotional -- and it's different for different people," according to some preliminary research conducted by ReadWriteWeb. But, not entirely.

    A Cambridge-based experimental tech CEO says she used such services "to spontaneously clump to co-work" with her peers in coffee shops. "The rest doesn't matter to me," she says. Meanwhile, "The stereotype of Foursquare users as youthful bar-hoppers is largely confirmed by the numbers," writes to ReadWriteWeb, citing data from the independent group BitsyBot Labs. The gaming element, which Foursquare is particularly well known for, does seem to motivate many users -- and potentially the masses. Most surprising to ReadWriteWeb was how many users rely on location-based service to track their own personal history. "It's a lazy diary, people say." Read the whole story...