Reading through this article shows the AT&T is planning on launching two Android based phones by the end of this year. One, a phone dubbed ‘Lancaster’, is slated for august the other, Motorola’s Heron in the late third quarter.

So what does this mean? It is business playing safe. AT&T is making sure that all their eggs are not in the iPhone basket. Smart, especially if they are unable to renegotiate their iPhone exclusivity contract. In doing so, AT&T will be able to shield against profit lost by providing a diverse product catalog to drive in customers from all walks of life and needs.

Also, as a bit of an aside and a post to be explored in the coming days as i gather more information, with more android based devices coming out, an android take over of the iPhone bakery is in store. That sounds like a PG version of Terminator doesn’t it?

Palm is releasing their Palm Pre on June 6th, and in an attempt to battle the iPhones huge market biceps, they are lowering the overall cost of owning the phone.

What I mean by this, is that together with Sprint, the Palm Pre will cost you approximately $100 monthly, whereas the iPhone is 150.(This is mainly due to AT&T and corporate greed).

Do I think they will be able to beat the iPhone? Probably not. Windows mobile, which comes on the Pre, is nice. However, its not as user friendly as the iPhone. Also, the iPhone has a VERY user friendly App store.

So does technological power really matter? Probably not, if people can use it they will. If they can’t? It is just another paperweight.

As I am Japanese, I check Japan news online on a daily basis. Thanks to the Internet! I couldn’t do that 10 years ago.

So… This university in Tokyo is giving away free iPhone to everyone. WHY?
It looks like they want to track if the students are on campus or not using the GPS system…lol
They are actually forcing all 550 staff and students to use the iPhone. They also will be using iPhone to provide simple tests and questionnaires, submitting their assignment and stuff.

The university will cover the basic charges (of course! If you are forcing) so that students do not need to pay for their services. Well, if you use a lot, it’s on your own.

But it’s pretty nice. When I was in college… Nobody was using cell phone… (feel a little old…) My college was not paying for my pager… (feel even a little older)
I don’t even have an iPhone and I wish I had one… But I don’t know. Is it really good? I hate my G1 but it is nice to have a query keyboard. I’m looking forward to see the G2… And hoping someone will pay for it.

Wow. I just read an interesting news article.

I am probably behind all the technology out there or I don’t care about cars so I totally missed this news a month ago.

Chrysler’s Peapod is an electronic vehicle aimed for iPhone users.

This neighborhood friendly car runs 25/mph top speed, uses the iPhone to control the sound system, as the  CAR KEY, even the navigation system, etc…. Without an iPhone, you cannot open the door or even start the car!

Peapod

OMG! This Peapod is so cute! (You can tell I am a girl)

oh… but this reminds me of….

Dragon Quest - Slime

Slime from the game, Dragon Quest.
(I just played Rocket Slime on DS over the weekend… LOL)

Anyway probably I won’t buy it like I concerned about it when Smart came out, but thought it was a funny iPhone news to write about here.

Browsing through articles today for something that didn’t go along the lines of, “iPhone not out selling BlackBerry Curve, iPhone Price lowering, etc etc,” and the other myriad of iPhone rumors skating about I came across this article at I4U mostly referencing an interview with Hideki Komiyama, President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.

Now, lets be honest with each other, the Mobile market now, the majority of the profit pie, is going towards smartphones. Other phones still sell– just not in the numbers that smartphones are experiencing. Sony’s mobile market is dipping because of this and they want a bigger piece of the pie. Who wouldn’t? Several families are dropping their land lines for mobile only — I am one of those. Its more convenient and its one less bill that I have to pay (Also one that is not redundant).

Now, do i believe Sony will come out with a PlayStation phone? Not really. I want to believe, but there have been rumors about the PSP being converted into a phone since the PSP was released in 2005. It is a great idea on paper, but its not workable. Sony can’t afford to be risky right now when all their recent attempts at new great products have fallen far below their projected sales.

So I say once more, PlayStation Phone? C’mon Sony.

As I am the only female in the team, probably nobody else cares to write about dress David’s Bridal.

Just kidding, according to this article on MobileMarketer.com, David’s Bridal is doing all sorts of mobile campaigns for prom dresses. Their target audience is teenagers. so they are mixing MMS, SMS, mobile search, voting and polling and mobile coupons…

Teenagers text so much. My friends’ teenage kids are so good at using cell phones to talk that they are typing faster than lightning. They amaze me. I’m pretty sure this DB’s mobile marketing campaign will do well and encourage other companies to move on to this new marketing style.

We received an email from Apple’s iPhone Developer Program, stating that all  submissions to the App store (for both existing applications and new) must be compatible with iPhone 3.0 SDK.  We have done some testing of the 3.0 SDK, now it’s time to take the betas seriously.  I think this could mean Apple could release iPhone OS 3.0 without additional heads-up to the developers, giving Apple the surprise announcement they like so much.

All apps must be compatible with iPhone OS 3.0
Millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers will move to iPhone OS 3.0 this summer. Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.

Gadgewise an electronic blog on The New York Times has posted that the BlackBerry is now outselling the iPhone.(As a slight aside — several websites are actually posting this, however, this article was well written.)

To give a short summation of the article, the BlackBerry Curve outsold the iPhone in Q1 due to two primary reasons; One being that the Curve is sold on all four major carriers, and within Verizon, a promotion of buy one get one free helped launch it over the cusp of the cup.

Now, one would argue, much as I would, that once AT&T loses its exclusivity contract in 2010 that the iPhone will end up back on top. Which, I do believe is going to happen. With clever marketing and three other telecommunications company’s eager to have some of the Apple Pie, who can stop the iPhone from climbing the mountain again?

The Washington Post reports that pizza delivery chain Papa Johns is not impressed with the iPhone app that they have contracted.

Now, I was just skimming over news, as I do daily, and this article pops up. The mind comes to bare however, how true this can be. How many start up companies have decided to make a quick application and pitch it to several large companies in hope for quick cash. Hundreds? Thousands? I’m sure the number is quite large. In any case, this comes down to execution. Not all applications are going to be amazing — some need that extra umph to get them going, some won’t ever make it past day one.

Basically, in a Readers Digest summary, if your company is looking for a mobile marketing solution; Don’t go the Papa Johns short cut plain Jane route. Go ahead and take the 1st class ticket, otherwise you’ll never see returns on your investment.

I’d just like to ask, Who didn’t see this coming? The iPhone is an amazing platform able to build bridges between technologies that before felt well, slow. A quick summary of the article goes as follows: iPhone scored full points on all categories except battery.

Amazing right?

Read the full article here at 9 to 5 Mac.