Mobilestead Blog » iPhone

Skype for iPhone has been downloaded 1 million times

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:59:28 +0000

Just a few days ago I wrote about the upcoming launch of the Skype iPhone App. Today I noticed that on their blog they state:

In less than two days, Skype for iPhone has been downloaded more than one million times – around six downloads every second.

That’s amazing growth for these type of applications and it’s obvious that Skype will dominate in mobile VoIP as well.

Skype comes to the iPhone

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:26:40 +0000

Crunchgear posted that tomorrow, March 31st, Skype will be added to the Apple App Store.

This also gives iPod Touch users an ability to make calls over the WiFi network. They will need to purchase an external mic to do this.

Its also worth noting that Fring and Truphone had Skype integration for months, but now we have a native Skype app which allows for IM, loading the avatars and more importanly to make the “callout” calls.

Wireless Provider Scorecard

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:33:10 +0000

GigaOm has gathered financial results of major U.S. carriers. AT&T and Verizon are the obvious leaders. The iPhone has definitely helped AT&T to retain and gain new customers. Below is a copy and paste. Original data here.

T-Mobile (reported Feb. 27)
•    Wireless Revenue: $4.9 billion
•    Wireless Net Income: $483 million
•    Wireless Data Revenue: $905 million
•    Net Prepaid Adds: 355,000
•    Net Postpaid Adds: 266,000
•    Total Subscribers: 32.8 million
•    Blended Churn (contract and prepaid): 3.3 percent
•    ARPU: Postpaid $54, prepaid $23

Sprint (reported Feb. 19)
•    Wireless Revenue: $6.56 billion
•    Wireless Loss: $1.82 billion
•    Wireless Data Revenue: N/A
•    Net Subscriber Loss Prepaid: 314,000
•    Net Subscriber Loss Postpaid: 1.1 million
•    Total Subscribers: 49.3 million
•    Churn: Postpaid 2.16 percent, prepaid 8.2 percent
•    ARPU: Postpaid $56, prepaid $30

AT&T (reported Jan. 28)
•    Wireless Revenue: $11.5 billion
•    Wireless Operating Income: $2.7 billion
•    Wireless Data Revenue $3.1 billion
•    Net Subscriber Adds Prepaid: 800,000
•    Net Subscriber Adds Postpaid: 1.3 million
•    Total Subscribers: 77 million
•    Churn: Postpaid 1.2 percent, prepaid N/A
•    ARPU: Postpaid $59.59, prepaid N/A

Verizon (reported on Jan. 27)
•    Wireless Revenue: $11.1 billion
•    Wireless Operating Income: $3.57 billion
•    Wireless Data Revenue: $3.2 billion
•    Net Subscriber Adds Prepaid and Postpaid: 1.2 million
•    Total Subscribers: 72.1 million
•    Churn: 1.35 percent blended, postpaid 1.05 percent
•    ARPU: Blended $51.72

Smartphone applications to go, on the go

Marina Slavina — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:08:39 +0000

No doubt that the smartphone, whether it’s an iPhone or the Blackberry, is a revolutionary device with limitless potential. Marc Andreessen, in an interview with Charlie Rose, acknowledged that the iPhone is a first cell-phone that is truly a computer which will create and encourage new ventures, and that “mobile has arrived.”

The article, Smartphones to go: Five apps you’ll want to pack illustrates just that. The new applications, both free and paid versions, offer to a traveler valuable, convenient, and on-the-go services all from one device – the traveler’s phone. For example, digital books and magazines through the Stanza application, or the Pocket Express “mobile concierge.”

I don’t want to undermine these “cool” and useful applications under any circumstances, because if one had a smartphone, they would surely be using them when traveling. However, I do have a concern: the fact that all these applications are developed individually, also means that they are unique and may be hard to access or figure out. I personally like extremely “user friendly” computer/cell-phone (which may soon become an interchangeable term!) devices, and would think that a group of useful applications, especially for one purpose, i.e. traveling, should be built under one umbrella. I think that if there was a standard, master application that offers a variety of options for any service, and is in the same format and style, that such a device would catch on faster and to a greater market range. Nowadays, simplicity attracts clientele, and I’m in front of the line waiting patiently for an umbrella of such applications.

Ads work best on the iPhone

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:30:22 +0000

The latest Mobile Advertising Report from market research agency GfK (and mobile social network Limbo) finds that users of Apple’s iPhone were more likely to recall and respond to ads than other mobile phone users.

Some other interesting findings from the study:

iPhone users are four times as likely to recall LBS (location-based service) ads as non-iPhone users.
Calling a toll free phone number published in the ads is the most common means of response; iPhone users called twice as much as non-iPhone users
One in seven consumers reported buying a product or visiting a store as a result of seeing a mobile advertisement; for iPhone users, more than one in four bought something as a result of seeing an ad

Universal Phone Charger Finally – But only in 2012?

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:13:57 +0000

GSM Association just announced a standardized charger for all mobile phones. Consumers have been demanding this for a while now. But before we all get excited, the target date for this is Jan. 1, 2012 – 3 years away!

This makes perfect sense and I would imagine that this would have been introduced a lot sooner as there are obvious advantages to both consumers and manufacturers. This new charger should also be a bit more energy efficient. There are 17 companies involved in this, including AT&T Inc., Motorola Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Samsung Electronics. T-Mobile.

I instantly noticed that two of the major players are not involved in this initiative: Apple and RIM.
Apple iPhone doesn’t surprise me as their adapter comes from the iPod ecosystem. RIM devices already use a standard MiniUSB adapter. Manufacturers of mobile phones, and most of them will be “smart phones” should embrace the miniUSB form factor.

MiniUSB is already widely used for small devices such as PDAs, digital cameras and mobile phones. Since most of my friends have a Blackberry, even though each one is a different flavor or carrier there never a shortage of charging stations, even when you visit a home of someone who doesn’t have one. A computer or even a Playstation 3 guarantees that there is a source of energy anywhere you go (assuming they have a miniUSB cable which most do). Additionally the miniUSB acts as a universal syncing cable. If other manufacturers followed this lead, the wait would not have to be 3 years.

Navigate New York City with Google Maps for mobile

Ilya Zatulovskiy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:27:08 +0000

New York City partnered with Google to create NYCgo.com and a brand new Official NYC Information Center, located at 810 7th Avenue . Tourists can now navigate the city easier by integrating Google Maps for mobile into their experience. www.NYCgo.com is similar to other sites as it lists hotels, restaurants, and things to do in New York. This is also in a way a competitor to CitySearch. Most pages embed Google Maps, and feature “send to phone” feature, which sends locations to your phone via text message. The site makes it easy to plan a trip at home and then use your phone to navigate the city.
See the video below:

If you are not yet using Google Maps for mobile to search for places and get directions download it by visiting google.com/gmm on your cell phone’s browser.

We hear lots of tourists complain about having to carry a paper subway map.
At Times Square and any subway station near tourist attraction everyone has a paper subway map in their hand and there is a crowd at the central posted one. iPhone version 2.2 now gives transit and walking directions which is great for tourists.

There is this great application – City Transit for the iPhone which provides Maps (MTA Subway, Manhattan Bus, LIRR and Metro North), Individual Subway Lines and Advisories all on your iPhone.

Mobilestead will provide City Tour Maps with all relevant attractions as well as audio and video multimedia to make the tourists stay more enjoyable.