Mobile Technology News

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In a brief statement to the media this afternoon, Apple announced that the upcoming iPhone 4 in white will be delayed.

“White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.”

By Jacqueline Emigh, Betanews

New York, New York U.S.A. After dropping wide hints over the past few weeks about “Web printer” plans, HP started to get a lot more specific today with the launch of three new smartphone-enabled printers. Some questions still remain unanswered, though, including exactly when the WebOS mobile operating system of HP’s newly acquired Palm will come into play.

HP actually rolled out its first Internet-enabled printer about a year ago, noted Vyomesh Joshi, speaking at an HP launch event today that also kicked off New York Internet Week.

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

About five years ago, when blogging as an analyst, I asserted that computing and informational relevance had started shifting from the Windows desktop to cloud services delivered anytime, anywhere and on anything. The day of Windows’ reckoning is come: 2010 will mark dramatic shifts away from Microsoft’s monopoly to something else. Change is inevitable, and like IBM in the 1980s, Microsoft can’t hold back its destiny during this decade. The Windows era is over.

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews

In a cautiously worded notice to customers this afternoon, AT&T advised that it will be raising its early termination fee (ETF) for wireless service for smartphones and netbooks, evidently including Apple’s iPhone. Beginning June 1, the base rate for ETFs from two-year service agreements will be raised from 5 minus per month of tenure, to 5 minus per month.

By Carmi Levy, Betanews

The sound you heard after HP’s purchase of Palm last week was that of Windows reaching the top of the roller coaster and beginning its inevitable trip back down. Microsoft had absolutely nothing to do with the transaction, of course, but the ripple effects of the buyout foreshadow a significant shift of one of Microsoft’s most stalwart partners away from its core products.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Late in February, Palm issued a shareholder warning which said that profits for the full year were going to be “well below” expectations due to a surprisingly slow demand for Palm’s smartphones.

Today, the company issued its third quarter earnings report, and though the numbers were actually up against the same quarter last year (when Palm posted a net loss of million,) the company is still losing money; million to be exact.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At the end of January, the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer Task Force launched an inquiry into the Early Termination Fees (ETFs) of the major wireless providers with a special focus on the Google Nexus One handset.

The Nexus One is unlike other smartphones in that it is sold only by Google and available on multiple carriers. As such, if a customer terminated his contract, he faced early termination fees from both Google and his wireless provider.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, the first major carrier of phones with Android support, T-Mobile, announced that doubleTwist media manager is now available across all of its Android smartphones, and that the music, video, and photo sync software can now be downloaded directly from T-Mobile for Windows XP and above and OS X 10.5 and above.

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Mobile telephony used to be about voice communications first and foremost, but not any more.

As we head toward the 4G era, and smartphones take the leading share of mobile phones sold, data plans will ultimately take precedence over voice plans.

Today, Verizon Wireless made this shift a little more evident as it unveiled new pricing for its plans which will launch on January 18. These plans cut the cost of voice by as much as 30%, but tack on an additional data consumption fee for all but the simplest feature phones.

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Do you browse the Web on your phone, iPod touch or other portable wireless device? Congratulations, you’re one of the 450 million mobile Internet users, according to IDC. The analyst firm today predicted that number would reach 1 billion by 2013.

I’ll do some quick math. Apple has shipped more than 30 million iPhones, so there’s a possible 6 percent or so of mobile Internet users — and that’s not counting more than 20 million iPod touch users. Another nearly 30 million Crackberry — ah, BlackBerry — addicts accounts for another 6 percent of users.