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iPhone 4: Consumer Reports Needs To Get It Together
Sometimes I want to buy something like a blender or a car or a washing machine. And sometimes my wonderful and loving mother ( who’s birthday is coming up) finds out because I accidentally tell her, or my dad does, or she uses that mom ESP thing that she used to find out I was hiding beer in my closet in high school. Anyway, she finds out. And then I can’t buy the one I want to buy, the shiny one on Amazon, because some issue of Consumer Reports said that the better one is the boring unshiny one and I need to be more responsible and stop wasting money on stupid stuff. And so a chart of red and black dots gets to decide for me. Because one thing I’ve learned in life is to never make mom unhappy. She’s upset enough that her son turned out to be a blogger, whatever that is. But the thing is, that trust that my mom gives to Consumer Reports was hard earned over decades of obsessive use. She trusts Consumer Reports. And if I read it I might trust it too. If they rated stuff on shininess I’d definitely subscribe. But suddenly Consumer Reports is crazy for the link bait. This iPhone 4 antenna problem has them going absolutely batshit crazy and, and nearly every day they’re firing off a new set of recommendations, or demands, that conflict with the old recommendations and demands. I would like to say this is just process journalism and applaud it. But they actually seem completely schizophrenic . It’s not a process, it’s chaos theory. The best parts are the constant updates to all the old articles where they try to justify all of their conflicting justifications simultaneously. July 2 : “iPhone 4′s supposed signal woes aren’t unique, and may not be serious” July 3 : “iPhone 4 signal debate rages; we experience signal loss in some calls” July 12 : “Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4,” adding “ Cover the antenna gap with a piece of duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material. It may not be pretty, but it works.” July 13 : “Why Apple—and not its customers—should fix the iPhone 4″ (what happened to the duct tape?) July 14 : Forget the duct tape! “Apple’s Bumper case alleviates the iPhone 4 signal-loss problem” People who subscribe to Consumer Reports don’t want to read about using duct tape to fix their stuff. They aren’t early adopters and they do want to be given a clear buy rating. They don’t need breathless up to the minute updates on what sticky non-conductive material will be best suited to make a broken phone work. My poor mother must be so confused right now. So I’ll just tell her what she needs to know: Don’t buy an iPhone 4 until this problem is fixed . And then still don’t buy one because AT&T is awful. Buy an Android instead. CrunchBase Information Apple iPhone 4 Information provided by CrunchBase
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iPhone 4: Consumer Reports Needs To Get It Together
How I Think The iPhone 4 Antenna Press Conference Is Going To Play Out
Perhaps you heard, Apple is having a little press conference on Friday . The reason? Officially, it’s about the iPhone 4. That’s all they’ll say. But everyone knows the slightly more detailed reason: the iPhone 4′s antenna . The only details Apple is giving out about the event is that it’s going to take place on their campus on Friday morning at 10 AM PT. But talking to some other people who got calls from Apple as well about the event may hold some clues as to what we can expect. First and foremost, the whole thing is bizarre. Apple has announced events with very little notification before, but never this little notification. The event is Friday morning and they notified people on Wednesday evening (or night for those people on the east coast). This essentially gives people one day notice. And they’re calling people across the U.S. about it, and asking if they can make it. For some, this means last-minute cross country flights. Obviously, Apple isn’t going to be paying for those, so it’s not clear how many people from outside the Bay Area are going to attend. And many are unsure if they should attend because Apple is being so vague about what they’ll be talking about. But you have to imagine if it’s a last-second press conference, it has to be pretty major, right? Not necessarily. My sense is that the main idea behind this event is to get a bunch of big publications and other key Apple influencers into a room to go over the iPhone 4 antenna issue once and for all. I have little doubt that Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself will be leading this discussion, with other Apple executives talking as well. I also suspect we may see some antenna and wireless industry experts to offer their insights as well. The purpose of such a gathering would be to cut off the backlash against the iPhone 4 at the knees. The Consumer Reports flip-flop would seem to be the major catalyst here. And regardless of what you think of Consumer Reports, Apple knows that it is a brand many average consumers trust. In fact, Apple has had no problem citing it before when they rate the iPhone favorably (incidentally, the iPhone 4 is Consumer Reports’ highest-rated smartphone , despite the non-recommendation). Still, the Consumer Reports story is just one thing. More troubling to Apple has to be the cascade effect it has had on the media. CNN is talking about it, MSNBC is talking about it , local news is talking about it — even David Letterman is talking about it . The situation has gotten out of control in a way the tightly-controlled Apple cannot find comfortable at all. So that’s what I believe this event is about. A way to pivot the message back to what Apple perceives to be the facts. Apple will undoubtedly acknowledge that holding the iPhone 4 does affect the signal . But they’ll note once again that this is true of all cellphones. And perhaps some experts will chime in to show some results to prove this to be the case. They’ll also undoubtedly point out how the iPhone 4 actually has the best antenna Apple has ever produced. They’ll probably have results to back this up as well. The focus will be on the facts that Apple has studies to prove. And the idea behind all of this is to drill it into our heads that the antenna issue is being blown out of proportion . That it’s an easy headline about a hot product. And Apple’s tactic may just work. Because it’s a lot harder to blindly write about one side of a topic when the other side has very directly addressed and refuted the issues with you. Apple will also likely talk about the software fix that is currently testing (iOS 4.1) which they say will help the issue as well. Our early tests show iOS 4.1 doesn’t fix the antenna issue at all (it is, after all, a hardware issue). But it does alter the bar indicators to make them more accurately reflect your actual signal, which is what Apple said it would do. Earlier tonight, a MacRumors forum poster laid out a similar scenario about how this event may play out. The difference is that he believes Apple will give out $50 gift cards that iPhone 4 purchasers can use to buy iPhone bumpers (cases) if they wish. I’m not sure how likely that is. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple does announce a way to specifically give away these bumpers (which are normally $29) to people who buy (or have bought) the iPhone 4. Another thing the forum post didn’t really hit on was the importance of who is invited to this event. As I said, Apple seems to be focusing on key influencers in the tech media. My belief is that Apple is hoping that by aiming at the top, the message will trickle down and overwhelm the Consumer Reports fall-out. Again, whether you agree with it or not, it seems like a pretty good strategy. Of course, all of that is just speculation. With this little amount of time before the event, it’s unlikely that anything will leak out before it happens. But there is always the possibility of one giant curveball. While I still find it hard to believe that Apple is thinking about an iPhone 4 recall at this point, the possibility is interesting for this Friday event. After all, it makes more sense to issue a recall in a controlled manner (where journalists can digest the news and ask questions), rather than to issue a statement about it and have everyone scream bloody murder. Again, I don’t think that is going to happen, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility if say, Apple is willing to acknowledge that there are at least some defective iPhone 4 antennas. The thing that’s a bit curious about this press conference is that Apple has already set a precedent by issuing a statement about the antenna issue on July 2. If they’re now doing a full press conference, surely their announcement must be more significant, right? But again, that statement was before Consumer Reports changed its mind and decided you shouldn’t buy the iPhone 4 due to the antenna issue. And that report has led us to where we are now. To combat that, Apple may feel the time is right to pull out their not-so-secret weapon: Steve Jobs. On a stage. Talking . [photo: flickr/ acaben ] CrunchBase Information Apple iPhone 4 Information provided by CrunchBase
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How I Think The iPhone 4 Antenna Press Conference Is Going To Play Out
Jajah Now Powers Low-Cost Long Distance For German O2 Subscribers
Less then seven months after it was acquired by Telefónica Europe (aka O2), for $207 million, VoIP service Jajah is launching its first integration with the large European carrier. O2 subscribers in Germany will now be able to designate up to five friends abroad as their Global Friends ; Jajah will assign each of those friends local numbers, allowing you to call internationally from your mobile phone at local rates. The product will be powered by Jajah, but customers will be seeing the O2 brand. This is interesting for a few reasons. First, it’s obviously a fairly speedy integration given the size of O2. Jajah CEO Trevor Healy also says that this marks the first time that a global carrier is offering a VoIP-powered service to its subscribers — he explains that O2 is willing to embrace the ‘Silicon Valley approach’ to digital communications, as opposed to holding steadfast to tradional voice services. Here’s to hoping the US carriers follow suit. O2 says it will be rolling out further Jajah-powered features in the next few months (presumably including a rollout of Global Friends to countries outside of Germany). O2 has 54 million subscribers across Europe. CrunchBase Information Jajah O2 Information provided by CrunchBase
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Jajah Now Powers Low-Cost Long Distance For German O2 Subscribers
Gendai Games Raises Over $1 Million For iPhone And iPad Game Creation Tool
Gendai Games, a startup that offers a simple game creation tool, has raised over $1 million in Series A funding led by DFJ Mercury with Steamboat Ventures , DFJ Frontier and ff Asset Management as well as angel investors Paul Bricault, Paige Craig , Tom McInerney , Josh Resnick and and Mark Suster participating in the round. The game creation tool, called GameSalad, is allows non-programmers to build, develop and publish 2D casual games games for the iPhone and iPad. GameSalad has been downloaded more than 70,000 times and in the nine months since the launch of its iPhone publishing service, GameSalad has powered over 800 titles in the iTunes App Store including Asplosion! HD and Doodle Cannon. The new funding will be used for product development and to hire additional talent. The startup faces competition from a number of other companies who also have democratized game development, including Playcrafter, and WIldpockets. CrunchBase Information Gendai Games Information provided by CrunchBase
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Gendai Games Raises Over $1 Million For iPhone And iPad Game Creation Tool
France Launches Multi-Lingual Tourist Website. It Goes Down And Stays Down.
Far be it from me to criticize the French . But yesterday France launched France.fr with a middling amount of press attention. But the site went down almost immediately after launching. This morning we gave it a pass, but tonight it’s still down. And we’re not sure anyone is working very hard to get it back up – it is just an information website, after all. From The Connexion on the launch: A NEW official website providing information about France in English has been launched by the French government. France.fr went live this morning to coincide with the fête nationale and is available in French, English, German, Italian and Spanish. The site aims to promote the country to tourists but also to provide residents with practical information about all elements of life in France – including studying, working, setting up a business and day-to-day living. The prime minister’s office, which is managing the new online project, said the site would grow in the coming months and it will contain some 12,000 links to other online resources including Météo France and tourist offices. And France’s senior government official overseeing the Internet, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet , even took the time to tweet “Lancement aujourd’hui du portail officiel de la France dans le monde” (“Today’s launch of official website of France in the world” ). A French friend says of the site (when it was live) “It just does not work, full of bugs, and the english translation is hilariously bad.” He won’t let me attribute his quote though, saying he’d like to remain in good standing with the French community. For now France.fr has a landing page saying the site is unavailable in a variety of languages. In French it goes into more detail, noting that the site is a victim of its own success. There’s the joke about how the only people France can beat at anything are the French themselves, usually noting the French Revolution. But I won’t repeat that here. Instead I’ll just say – Vive la France!
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France Launches Multi-Lingual Tourist Website. It Goes Down And Stays Down.
HomeAway Ramps Towards IPO With Two Key Hires And $200 Million/Year In Revenue
HomeAway , the massive vacation home rental service rollup, is ramping towards an IPO, likely in 2011, say sources close to the company. And that shouldn’t be any surprise, given the two key executive hires the company announced today – new chief product officer Tom Hale (previously CPO at Linden Labs) and chief operating officer Brett Bellm (previously PayPal, and in need of a vowel for his last name). A year and a half ago the company was valued at $1.4 billion after a $250 million round of financing. Revenue at the time was around $150 million, we heard. Now revenue is more like $200 million/year, with $70 million or so in pure profit. This thing, in short, is throwing off cash, and lots of it. CrunchBase Information HomeAway Information provided by CrunchBase
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HomeAway Ramps Towards IPO With Two Key Hires And $200 Million/Year In Revenue
In Five Months, FreshBooks Crosses $1 Billion In Transactions
Toronto-based invoice startup FreshBooks has crossed $1 billion in billings that wer paid worldwide over the FreshBooks ecosystem between January and May of this year. FreshBooks lets you create and share invoices, time sheets and estimates within a web application. The application is largely popular amongst freelancers, consultants and small businesses. With both free and paid plans, Freshbooks has served 1.6 million users since May 2004. In addition to announcing the $1 billion milestone, FreshBooks released other findings about usage on its system during the same period. The average invoice size on FreshBooks was $1,677. Users in Mexico and Sweden saw the largest invoice sizes with $4,669 and $4,423 respectively. India and Malaysia were the lowest with $414 and $406. Average invoice size for the U.S. was $919. The average time to pay an invoice on Freshbooks was 22.8 days China saw the shortest time to pay with 11.9 days, while India saw the largest at 31.7 days. The average time to pay for the U.S. was 20 days. FreshBooks says that its billings did not reach the $1 billion threshold last year until August. Launched in 2004, the startup has steadily added useful features to its billing service over the past few years, including benchmark reports on aggregated business data, an open API, and data mining from users. Competitors in the online billing space include BillMyClients and Blinksale. CrunchBase Information Freshbooks Information provided by CrunchBase
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In Five Months, FreshBooks Crosses $1 Billion In Transactions
Apple Calls A Special Press Conference For Friday, Antenna Issue Likely The Subject
Word is breaking that Apple is calling a special press conference on this coming Friday to talk about the iPhone 4. Yes, you can probably guess what this is about. Apple blog The Loop has the (basically non-existent) details right now — that it will be in California on Friday morning and about iPhone 4. A small group of press are reportedly getting the invites right now. Update : We just got the call, we’ll be there at 10 AM PT on Friday to cover it live. The big question that everyone must be wondering is if Apple will announce a recall of the iPhone 4 based on the antenna problems — which are very real . We still believe that’s pretty unlikely. That said, it’s very, very, very rare (in fact, I don’t think it has ever happened) that Apple would call a special press conference at the last second. If they didn’t have something very major to say, they’d much more likely issue a release. But with all the talk and speculation flying around out there, perhaps Apple (and CEO Steve Jobs in particular) just wants to sit people down to talk about the issue. Apple has been widely criticized for saying basically nothing about the issue beyond Jobs’ quotes that users should buy a case or hold the phone different . Apple released the first beta of the iOS 4.1 software today. As our sister site MobileCrunch noted , it does not fix the antenna issue. Instead, it simply does what Apple said it was going to do: make the signal strength indicator more accurate. CrunchBase Information Apple iPhone 4 Information provided by CrunchBase
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Apple Calls A Special Press Conference For Friday, Antenna Issue Likely The Subject
White Comic Character Lenses – Dr. Manhattan Contact Lenses Will …
Dr Manhattan Contact Lenses – Remember the big hype surrounding the movie ‘Watchmen’ when it first released? Even now, the hype still lingers with the Dr. Manhattan contact lens…
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White Comic Character Lenses – Dr. Manhattan Contact Lenses Will …
SolarCity Wins $21.5 Million Funding Round from Mayfield
SolarCity today announced that it is taking a $21.5 million round of funding led by Mayfield Fund, and the company’s previous investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors and Generation Capital. The company’s prior funding totaled approximately $134 million, and included investors First Solar, JP Morgan and Elon Musk. SolarCity helps businesses, home owners and government agencies adopt solar power and save money using clean energy versus electricity. It designs, installs and provides finance options for the development of solar projects. In 2008, it provided and installed the thousands of solar panels that grace the roof of eBay Inc.’s green building (pictured) in San Jose. Earlier this week, SolarCity signed a new partnership deal with Rabobank, the international private bank with a triple A credit rating. The bank has agreed to provide solar project financing for its commercial clients via SolarCity. Rabobank N.A. in California also installed solar power generating rooftops at six of its retail locations. The shiny new Rabobank-SolarCity rooftops provide power not just for the banks themselves, but for customers of another Elon Musk concern — Tesla Motors. AutoBlogGreen gushes that any of Tesla’s electric vehicles making a pit stop along California’s “clean corridor,” or Highway 101 Rabobank locations can get recharged renewably. SolarCity plans to use its latest round of venture funding to expand into new geographic markets, and entertain acquisitions. Its solar projects, so far, are in five states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas. In California and Arizona, SolarCity faces direct competition from SunRun , another venture-backed firm with investments totaling about $140 million, with its most recent round led by Sequoia Capital. CrunchBase Information SolarCity Information provided by CrunchBase CrunchBase Information Mayfield Fund Information provided by CrunchBase CrunchBase Information Elon Musk Information provided by CrunchBase
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SolarCity Wins $21.5 Million Funding Round from Mayfield
